Chuck Vs Semper Fi
by Mh60r
Summary: What if the events at Stanford happened prior to September 11th? And what if Chuck, upon witnessing the attacks, decided to change his life? Alternate Universe, slight cross-over with Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, some characters may not act exactly like cannon and alot of the event either don't happen or happen differently. Charah. Will attempt to update at least weekly.
1. Chapter 1

_Ok. This is my first attempt at fan fiction of any kind, so I'm sure I'm going to make plenty of mistakes. Therefore I appreciate any and all positive feedback that you send._

 _This will primarily be a Chuck fan fiction, with some crossover with the world of Tom Clancy (most notably Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit) and maybe a few others. This is AU for both, in that I've changed the timeline a little bit, and certain events either didn't happen or happened differently. Also, some of the characters will act differently then cannon._

 _I own neither Chuck or any of Tom Clancy's stuff._

 **Prologue: Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning**

 **Oxford University**

 **September 11, 2001**

Jack Ryan sighed as he sat up from his position lying on the bench in the quad. It was his break between classes, and he always spent in the quad, napping.

 _Better get to class._ He thought.

Jack began walking toward his next class, not wanting to be late. He was eighteen months into a two year PhD program, and though he was doing well, Professor Sterling was a hard-ass that didn't like him very well. He didn't want to be late.

As he neared his destination, he noticed a commotion as people started talking frantically and running towards the student union. He could tell something was wrong.

 _Probably another IRA flare up._ He thought. There had been a few incidents lately, but this seemed to be different. A lot more people seemed to be running around then normal. Debating with himself for a brief minute, he turned and joined the exodus towards the Student Union. As he entered the building, he saw the crowd of students gathered around several large screen tvs. He looked up and gasped as he saw footage of a plan crash into the World Trade Center.

"Hey you're a Yank, aren't you?" someone said next to him. Jack nodded. "Sorry mate."

 **Buymore**

 **Burbank, CA**

 **September 11, 2001**

Charles Irving Bartowski, Chuck to his friends, watched the TV screen in shock. The morning had started out normally enough. He had showed up to his job at the Buymore, though to be honest, he seriously considered sleeping in. He was doing a lot of that lately, ever since his douche bag of a former roommate had framed him for cheating and gotten him kicked out Stanford and stole his girlfriend. Life just didn't seem to be worth it anymore. Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact he worked with his best friend Morgan, he probably would have just stayed home. But somehow, seeing Morgan was enough to drag him back from the ledge.

"Oh my God." He said, as the TV showed images of one of the towers collapsing. _This can't be happening._

 **Echo Park**

 **September 21, 2001**

"You WHAT!?" screamed Dr. Eleanor "Ellie" Bartowski. "Are you insane!?"

 _So much for hoping for a reasonable reaction._ Chuck sighed. He loved his sister dearly. She had done a great job raising him since both of their parents abandoned them, but she could be very smothering.

"I enlisted in the Marines, Ellie." He repeated.

"Chuck you can't be serous." She said. "Be reasonable. I know you've been having a rough time since Stanford and Jill –"

"Dammit Ellie, will you just listen!" Chuck interrupted, exasperated. "Yes, I've been having a rough time. I've been spiraling further and further into depression. Something had to change. And it did." He took a breath, and then continued. "Ellie, when I watched the attacks two weeks ago, I suddenly realized that all my problems were nothing compared to that. And then I really started to think. Ellie, I've been living in a bubble the last few years, hell even all my life. Yeah, it sucked that mom and dad left, but we survived. We did better then survive. You're a doctor. I got into Stanford. Compared to a lot of other people, our lives have been nowhere near as bad as it could be. I realized I was being selfish. And that I had no one to blame for the last few months since I was kicked out of Stanford except me. Well no more. The world doesn't need another Nerd Herder, or Software programmer. It needs doctors, firefighters, cops, nurses and people who can help people. And it needs people who are going to put themselves between the bad guys and everyone else. I want to keep people safe. And, frankly, I need direction and structure in my life. And I can't think of any better way to get all of that then to join the Marines. This isn't up for debate, Ellie. I've signed all the papers. It's done. I leave in eight weeks."

As she listened to her brother talk, Ellie couldn't help but feel tears welling up. They were a mixture of anger, concern, and finally, pride. She was angry because Chuck hadn't consulted her first before making the decision; angry at Bryce Larkin for getting Chuck kicked out of Stanford; and angry at the world for needing people like Chuck. Concern for her baby brother, because as much as she loved him and believed in him, he was basically a nerd. He was healthy physically but never athletic or a weight lifter; the exact opposite of how she envisioned Marines. And then there was the fact that her country was clearly heading into a war; a war he brother would most likely eventually be fighting in. And finally she was proud; proud that her brother wanted to help protect people. All three of these emotions warred with her for several minutes before pride won out. She launched herself at Chuck and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm sorry Chuck." She said, crying. "It's just that I promised myself when dad left that I would take care of you. I guess I forget that you're not a little kid anymore. I'm very proud of you." She pulled back. "But you better not die or I'll kill you!"


	2. Chapter 2

**18 Months Later**

 **USMC FOB**

 **Helmand Province, Afghanistan**

"PFC Bartowski reporting as ordered, Sir." Chuck said, stopping just in front of 2nd Lieutenant (LT) Jack Ryan's desk and coming to the position of attention. LT Ryan waited several seconds, reading the paper in front of him, before he looked up.

"At ease, Bartowski." He said. He watched as Chuck relaxed from the position of attention. "I've got Staff Sergeant Harris's after action report from the raid yesterday. Now I want to hear your version." Chuck slowly let out a breath.

 _I knew this was going to come back to bite me in the ass._ He thought to himself. _Oh, well…no good deed goes unpunished I guess._

"Well, Sir, it was a textbook raid, at first. The patrol secured the perimeter and the breaching team entered the building on schedule. We encountered light resistance in the building until we reached the rear room on the upper floor. Lance Corporal Edison, PFC Wyles and myself engaged three hostiles in the hallway, with another hostile firing from cover behind the door. After a brief exchange of fire, we eliminated the resistance in the hall and stormed the room. The only subject in the room, presumably the one who had been firing on us, ignored our order to surrender. At the time he was doing something with a laptop. It only took a second or two but we realized it was attached to enough C4 to level the block. PFC Wyles killed the subject, but not before he activated the bomb. Luckily he wasn't able to detonate it immediately." Chuck said.

"And then?" LT Ryan prompted.

Chuck swallowed nervously. Even now after having graduated from Paris Island, Infantry training at Quantico, and being in country for the last three months, he was still somewhat the nervous kid he had been in high school and college.

"The bomb was on a timer controlled by the laptop. We had two minutes top on the countdown." Chuck continued. "There barely enough time for Lance Corporal Edison to shout out the rest of the breaching time, never mind evacuate the block. So…so I…uh…tried to defuse it."

"I'd say you did more than try, Bartowski." Jack said, grinning slightly. He picked up the paper in front of him and read from it. "While Lance Corporal Edison relayed information about the danger to the breaching team, PFC Bartowski proceeded to hack the laptop, and using the residence's satellite Internet, connect the laptop to the web. He then proceeded to disarm the bomb by crashing the laptop by going to a Serbian porn site and infecting the laptop with a fast acting virus."

"Uh…yes sir." Chuck replied. "It was a Prism laptop, sir. We used to sell them at the Buymore I worked at in college. I knew it had a DOS overwrite I could get to. And I had just had a letter from my best friend back home that mentioned the virus." Jack chuckled slightly.

"Well, I doubt the boys over at EOD would have approved, but it worked. You did good, Bartowski." Jack said, handing another piece of paper over to Chuck. "Staff Sergeant Harris has recommend you for a commendation. The Captain's already endorsed it. Also, as of today, you're no longer a PFC. Congratulations, Lance Corporal." Jack stood and shook Chuck's hand, then motioned to the chair in front of the desk. "Sit, Bartowski. There's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"Sir?" Chuck asked as he sat.

"I'm going to be blunt. What the Hell are you doing here Bartowski?" Jack asked. Chuck didn't say anything, unsure of what the LT meant. "I've seen your jacket. So has the Captain. Top five in your high school class, 1500 on your SATs, full ride to Stanford. You're clearly very smart. You had your pick of just about any technical MOS you wanted. Yet you chose the Infantry. Why?"

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Chuck asked. Jack nodded. "Well, if you've seen my file, you'll know I didn't finish Stanford. I was kicked out, for cheating. I spent three months feeling sorry for myself. Then September 11th happened. I decided I was done feeling sorry for myself. I wanted to make a difference. So I enlisted."

"Bartowski, I know all this. I have a hard time believing the cheating part. Looking at your high school record, your ASFAB score, and your records from boot camp and infantry school, you're smart. Real smart. Too smart to have to cheat. What happened?" Jacked asked.

Chuck sighed, running his hand over his head. He really didn't want to retell the story. He had worked hard to put it behind him but it seemed to keep cropping up.

"My ex-best friend/roommate, Bryce Larkin, framed me. I'm not sure how or why, but he did. And then after I got kicked out, he went and stole the girl I was going to propose too." Chuck said, not really sure why he added the last part. He had spoken to LT Ryan only briefly before, but the LT was a good officer who seemed to care about his men.

"That sucks, Bartowski." Jack said, feeling sorry for the kid. "But why the Infantry?"

"I just figured if I was going to do my part, I wanted to commit all the way." Chuck replied.

 **Six Months Later**

 **Aboard UH-1N Iroquois (aka Huey) Helicopter**

"Still no luck, LT?" PFC Wilkison asked as Jack turned off the satellite phone.

"Nope. Same response as always 'thanks so much for the memo but'" Jack said, dejectedly. "Doesn't help that the sat phone keeps disconnecting."

"You should have Bartowski look at it when we get back." Corporal Jones said. Jack grinned. Ever since the laptop incident, Bartowski had been steadily gaining a reputation as the go-to guy whenever someone needed something electronic repaired or modified. And it wasn't just in that arena that Bartowski was gaining a reputation. He was probably one of his best Marines in the field. In fact, Jack and the Captain had just finished submitting a package to Battalion that would hopefully mean a better career path for him.

"Yeah, I just may do that. Maybe he can –" Jack started to say, but was interrupted by a loud bang and the helicopter beginning to descend.

"Mayday, mayday. This is Red 2-1, we are going down!" Jack heard the pilot say into his radio. "I say again, this is Red 2-1, we're going down, our current location is…"

 **Several Hours Later**

 **USMC FOB**

 **Helmand Province, Afghanistan**

Chuck sighed as he lay down on his bunk, reflecting on the last few hours. Three members of his platoon dead in a helicopter crash, two more injured, and LT Ryan with a broken back.

 _It's a shame. LT Ryan was one hell of an officer._ Chuck thought to himself. The LT had a way of connecting with the men of the platoon while still maintaining the proper respect for the differences in their ranks. There wasn't a Marine in the platoon that wouldn't have walked through hell and back for him. Chuck especially felt a deep comradeship with the LT. Despite the differences in the end of their academic careers, both had decided that service to their country was more important than what their schooling had prepared them for. _And now he's gone. Hopefully the docs at Ramstein or Bethesda will be able to fix his back._

 **Two Months Later**

 **USMC FOB**

 **Helmand Province, Afghanistan**

"Lance Corporal Bartowski reporting as ordered, Sir." Chuck said. In front of him, 2nd LT Marcus Little, LT Ryan's replacement, looked up from his desk.

"Pack your bags, Bartowski. I've just received new orders for you." He said. Chuck's eyes widened slightly in confusion; after all, he still had several months left on his deployment.

"May I ask where, sir?" he said. LT Little handed him a sheet of paper.

"Back to the States. Before his accident, LT Ryan and Captain Johnson recommended you for Force Reconnaissance training. Congratulations." LT Little replied.

Chuck stood in shock for a moment. Force Reconnaissance was the closest the Marines had to a dedicated special operations force; only the best of the best were even considered for it. Additionally, it was an arduous process to complete the training necessary. No less than 1 ½ to 2 years of additional training were required before completion. On the one hand, Chuck was not happy at the prospect of abandoning his platoon while they were still in the field. On the other hand, Force Recon, along with the other military special operations forces, were the tip of the spear against America's enemies.

"Aye, aye, sir." Chuck replied.


	3. Chapter 3

_Authors Note: Sorry for the slight delay. It's my intention to write/upload a new chapter approximately once a week, but between work, my wife, two kids, and other things, I may miss that self-imposed deadline every once in a while. Also, I want to apologize for the pace of this story…I figure its going to take me two more chapters before I am at the point where we are going to be in relatively familiar territory as far as Chuck goes._

 _Also, a bit of discussion as far as timeline goes. In the real world, until 2006, the United States Marine Corps had no dedicated special operations command or unit. Instead, Force Reconnaissance was integrated as part of the Corps normal forces, and all Marine Expeditionary Units were trained to be "special operations capable." This changed in 2007 when portions of Force Reconnaissance were merged into the Marine Special Operations Regiment and placed under the newly created Marine Special Operations Command or MARSOC. In 2015, the MSOR was renamed the Marine Raider Regiment. For purposes of this story, I've deviated from the real world timeline. Instead, the formation of the Raider Regiment and MARSOC occurred during Chucks Force Reconnaissance training._

 **July 15, 2005**

 **Al-Qa'im**

 **Al Anbar Province, Iraq**

 **Near the Syrian Border**

 **2300 hours**

"Knife, this Variable. Over."

"Go ahead Variable. Over"

"Knife, Variable is in position. Target is in site and area looks clear. Looks like we caught them unaware." Staff Sergeant Charles Bartowski said into the radio. Nearby, the rest of the four members of the Tactical Element he commanded. The team was one of two teams, along with a small command element, that made up the Marine Special Operations Team (MSOT) to which he was assigned.

"Roger Variable. Party kicks off in 5." Captain Mark Highway responded. "Remember, the packages are probably on the second floor."

"Roger." Chuck replied, setting the radio back in its place. He checked his watch, and then signaled the rest of the team. His unit was currently surrounding/observing a building near the outskirts of Al-Qa'im. They had been assigned to conduct a hostage rescue of several aide workers captured by insurgents a few months ago. After several weeks of intense searching, hope had begun to die of ever finding them. Oddly enough, it was a investigation into some questionable bank accounts on the part of former Lieutenant Jack Ryan, now working for the CIA as an analyst, that had ultimately led to the intelligence that provided the location of the hostages.

The plan was a simple one. Captain Highway and the rest of the unit would assault the front of the building, while Chuck's team would breach from the rear. In addition to the team, Command had also assigned two scout/sniper teams who would take out the limited guards on the outside of the building and perform over watch during the operation. On the off chance that things went south, two Cobra helicopters were on ready alert and could be over the target in 10 minutes. Additionally, a platoon of Marines from the 1st Battalion was waiting in Humvees several blocks away.

Chuck looked at his watch again as the last few seconds ticked away. As time ran out, he heard the suppressed _crack…crack…crack…crack_ of the scout/snipers firing at the targets. His team was in motion before the last shot had been fired.

When the breaching element of his team, Sergeant Robin Bautista and Corporal Max Smart reached the rear door, two quick shots to the hinges from Corporal Smart's 12 gauge shotgun rang out. Sergeant Bautista kicked the door down and the two Marines were inside in a flash, covering the rest of the team as they entered the building. Shouting could be heard throughout the building as those insurgents not on duty were rousing from the sleep. Movement up ahead grabbed Chuck's attention as three insurgents, carrying AK-47s ran out of a side room. The air erupted into flashes and the sound of weapons fire as the team engaged the targets, putting all three down quickly.

They quickly began moving up the stairs to the second floor where the hostages were located. Along the way they engaged four more insurgents. Entering the room on the far side of the floor, they found seven frightened and beaten people, all bound and gagged. After having his men check that they didn't have any weapons, Chuck ordered Petty Officer 2nd Class Will Norris, his element's medic, to check them out.

"Variable, this is Knife. First floor is secure and all hostiles eliminated. Status on the hostages?" Captain Highway's voice came over Chuck's radio.

"Knife, Variable. We have the hostages. They definitely look as though they've been through the ringer." Chuck responded. "I don't think walking them out of the area is going to work. Better call the cavalry."

"Roger Variable."

Chuck walked over to the hostages and Petty Officer Norris. "How are they?" he asked.

"All of them are suffering from dehydration and lack off food; they've also been beaten; two of them pretty severely." Norris responded, motioning to a man and woman at the far end of the room. Chuck walked over to look at the two. One of them turned his head just as Chuck approached and both he and Chuck let out a gasp.

"Chuck?"

"Bryce?"

 **Meanwhile…**

 **Stanford University**

 **Office of Professor Fleming**

 **July 16, 2005**

 _Shit._ Fleming thought, quickly closing his door and locking it. The day had started out decent enough, but around lunchtime he got the sense that he was being watched. By the time his last class had ended, he was sure of it. As he was walking from the lecture hall to his office, it was confirmed as a man whose bearing just screamed "agent" walked up to him.

"Professor Fleming?" he enquired.

"Ye..Yes." Fleming replied.

"You're coming with me. Fulcrum would like to talk to you about your work." Horror dawned on Flemings face. Somehow he had managed to pull the CIA-issued pepper spray and discharge it into the agent's eyes before he had a chance to grab him and took off. However, he knew he wasn't out of the woods. He could see several more agents converging after him as he ran to his office.

He knew why Fulcrum wanted him; he couldn't let them get him. But he also knew that the closest CIA response team would never reach him in time and although he had gone through the farm many years ago, he was nowhere near in the form needed to make a serious run for it. That left only one option.

Quickly he sent an e-mail message to his superior, detailing what was happening. Then he began wiping the data from his computer. He stopped when he came to one file. It took only a second for him to make a decision. He opened another e-mail and typed another e-mail, attaching the file and clicking send. With that done, he opened his desk, pulled out a small pillbox and a loaded .357 Magnum revolver. Aiming the gun at the computer, he fired six rounds into the chassis. Finally he opened the pillbox and as he heard the sound of the Fulcrum agents attempting to break down his door, he took out the small capsule and swallowed it.

 **July 16, 2005**

 **CIA Headquarters**

 **Langley, Virginia**

"Your intel paid off, Jack." Thomas Harper said walking into the office of former Marine 2nd Lieutenant Jack Ryan's office. "Marine Raiders hit the building last night; all seven aid workers were rescued. In fact, a former subordinate of yours was on the team that hit it."

"Let me guess…Bartowski?" Jack said, grinning. At Harpers nod, Jack continued "I knew he was back in field in the Al-Anbar province; just didn't know where. I tell you Tom; the best move anyone ever made was when he was recruited into the Raiders. I just wish there was someway to clear that black mark from Stanford. He'd make a hell of an officer, not to mention a member of this team."

Thomas Harper sighed; ever since he recruited Jack he had been singing the praises of Staff Sergeant Bartowski and groaning about the unfairness of what had happened to his former subordinate. Tom tended to think that Jack was probably right; based on what he saw of the kid's file, there was not much chance he had actually committed the infraction that got him kicked out of Stanford. Unfortunately, they had no proof. Fleming stuck to his story about him cheating, and his former roommate, Byrce Larkin, was Deputy Director of Operations Langston Grahm's "golden children." Though Harper had begun to accumulate a lot of clout lately, mostly due to Ryan's work, he still didn't have the juice to confront Grahm or Larkin directly without any hard proof.

"Are you and Kathy still on for tonight?" Harper said, changing the subject.

"Definitely boss. Cathy can't wait to meet Linda." Jack replied, referring to Harper's wife. The Harpers had invited him and his fiancé, Dr. Cathy Muller, to their home for dinner.

"Good. We'll see you around seven then." Harper said, getting up and exiting Jack's office.

A few minutes later he was sitting in front of his own desk, going through missed e-mails when one in particular caught his attention. Opening it, he read the message, color draining from his face. Then he played the attached video file.

"Sonofabitch!"


	4. Chapter 4

**July 17, 2005**

 **Camp Independence**

 **Coalition Operating Base**

 **Al-Anbar Province, Iraq**

Sarah Walker awoke with a start, her heart racing and perspiration drenching her clothes from the nightmare she had just had.

 _Get it together Walker._ She mentally chided herself, but she knew it would not be that simple. Despite her carefully constructed outward "enforcer" persona, a persona she had begun to build when Graham had recruited her in 1999, she was afraid.

Though Sarah had been in danger numerous times in her CIA career (and even before that during her teen years as her con-man father's partner), nothing had come close to what had happened to her and her partner during their captivity in Al'Qa'im.

During that time she had been subjected to abuse unlike any she had encountered in her career. Usually the adversaries she had briefly been held by in the past wanted information. Therefore, while they could and often times were, brutal and sadistic, they ultimately understood something that the CIA trained all its own interrogators about: pain and suffering was only effective up to a point. But the insurgents that had held her, Bryce, and the 5 other aide workers were different. They asked no questions; the violence visited upon the hostages seemed to be for nothing other than the pleasure and entertainment of the insurgents. As far as she knew, they hadn't even made any demands. Hell, until the shooting started two days ago, she wasn't even sure anyone knew they were still alive. At that thought, her anger rose further.

 _Damn Bryce and his ideas. I never should have listened to him._ Sarah thought chidingly to herself.

The duo had just finished up a mission in Syria when they had found a source indicating that one of the leaders of the insurgency that the Marines had recently pushed out of Fallujah was in a refugee camp just over the Syrian-Iraq border. Bryce had convinced her that they could go across and quickly grab him and take him back in custody. Further, he had convinced her, against her better instincts, that the operation could be handled in a matter of days and therefore, there was no need to advise Graham before hand. So they had conned their way into a group of aide workers heading to Iraq and gone to the camp. It turned out to be a major mistake. No sooner had they arrived at the crowded camp when the group they were traveling in had been attacked.

Sarah sighed. She had done a lot of reflecting over the last few months. When she had first been partnered up with Bryce, it had been exciting and intoxicating. The two had seemed to compliment each other and they had quickly become one of Graham's most effective teams. And then Project Omaha had happened.

The whole concept of Omaha still seemed like something out of science fiction to her. Encoding information and skills into pictures and the "downloading" those images into an agent's mind where he or she would be able to near instantaneously retrieve it when needed had seemed to good to be true. Based on a test Bryce had taken when he was at Stanford, he had been picked for the first download. Unfortunately, it had not gone well. While the download itself had been successful, Bryce seemed to be unable to utilize it correctly or reliably. After six months, the powers that be had decided the project was useless, removed the download from Bryce and mothballed the project.

Bryce had taken it hard; in addition to being one of the rising stars in the CIA, he also had a rather large ego. The idea that he couldn't successfully take part in the program seemed to fall him. Since then he had become more ambitious and careless, constantly pushing himself and their partnership to limit. Almost as though he was determined to erase his failure.

And Sarah, despite her concerns, had done little about it. By all rights she should have reported his behavior but didn't. Part of it was because of the past track record of success they had, partly because she didn't want to have to get used to a new partner, and partly because of what she thought were her feelings for him. In the time in their captivity, however, Sarah had come to realize that her feelings for him were nothing more than the excitement of their lifestyle and the fact that that they spent all of the last three years together.

 _Besides, no matter how I feel or thought I felt about him, I've got to put a stop to this._ She thought. _Otherwise he's liable to get himself or others killed. Maybe I can make sure the damage is limited to his career. And mine. Damn you, Bryce, you really screwed me._ At that thought a slight grin appeared on her face. At least I'm in good company there.

 ** _begin flashback_**

Sarah looked at Bryce and the Marine Staff Sergeant he had called Chuck. Since they were undercover, it was a shock to hear Bryce's name. They obviously knew each other, but from where? For the last three years she and Bryce had been in the field almost non-stop, with only brief respites in between. The Marine certainly wasn't anyone they had encountered; she would have remembered. Even if she didn't remember the face, she certainly would have remembered those intense brown eyes. But it was also clear that the Marine, from his expression was NOT happy to see Bryce. Other than that initial mutual recognition, neither man spoke to each other again.

Ten minutes later, the Raiders and the hostages were loaded onto waiting transports, making their way back to the coalition operating base. Bryce and Sarah were put into one of the medical transports, where Petty Officer Norris continued to treat their injuries. Bryce still had a shocked look on his face. It was one of the few times Sarah had ever seen him nervous or speechless.

"Where do you know that Sergeant from, Bryce?" Sarah asked. Bryce looked at her, pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts.

"We were roommates at Stanford together –" he began, but was interrupted by a hiss coming from Petty Officer Norris.

"You're the asshole who got the Sergeant kicked out!" Norris said accusingly. "And stole the girl he was going to marry!"

 _ **end flashback**_

To say the rest of the trip was tense was an understatement. Bryce tried to say that he hadn't done anything, that Chuck got himself kicked out for cheating, but the Petty Officer loyally defended his element leader. And the subtle tick on Bryce's face was all she needed to know the truth. Bryce had gotten him kicked, most likely to go after his girl.

Things got even more interesting when they arrived at the operating base.

 _ **begin flashback**_

After arriving at the Coalition operating base Sarah, Bryce, and the other hostages were taken to the medical section for treatment and rest. Several hours passed before they saw anyone other than medical personnel. Finally, around 0900 the next day, several Marines came to pay her and Bryce a visit. Sarah only recognized two of them: Captain John Casey and Staff Sergeant Bartowski. The others introduced themselves as Colonel Carelton Conners (the commander of the base), Captain Angela Marks (Intelligence), and Captain Mark Highway (the commander of the Marine Special Operations team).

"Mr. Larkin, Ms. Walker." Colonel Conners greeted them. "According to my Medical Officer, you both should make a full recovery. You'll have to stay here in medical for a few days but we'll be able to get you out of country by the end of the week. Now, mind telling us why two of CIA's best was in a group of hostages and no one notified us?" Sarah's eyes dropped to the floor. This was not going to go well.

"Sorry Colonel," Bryce started before Sarah could say anything. "I'm afraid you don't have clearance." A grunt drew everybody's attention to Captain Casey.

"Cut the crap Larkin." He growled. "Graham already passed the word that you weren't on any official mission". Bryce seemed to deflate. He might have been able to pull the "it's beyond your pay grade" act with the Marines, but John Casey was NSA, and apparently had already spoken to the CIA. Before Bryce could speak anymore, Sarah spoke.

"Bryce had intelligence that Kahlid Al-Sahim was in the refugee camp near Rabia." She said. "According to Bryce's intelligence, he had a minimal body guard contingent with him. He thought we would be able to get in and grab him and be out before anyone would notice. We knew it was against protocol to go without reporting in first."

"Fortunately that's not our problem. We've been instructed to keep you here, under guard until Friday. Then Captain Casey will escort you back to the States. Then you're Graham's problem. Until then, Captain Highway's men will keep an eye on you." Colonel Connors said. With that, he turned and left, along with Captain Marks and Captain Highway.

"We've got men on all the exits. At least one of us will be in here at all times." Chuck told Casey.

"Good work, Bartowski." Casey said. "I want them cuffed to the beds too. And make sure none of your guys get too close." Chuck nodded and started to walk away.

"Must be a dream come true for you, Casey." Bryce said. "Having me and Sarah in your custody, and a bunch of worthless Jarheads to order around. Not to mention that loser over there."

"Shut it Larkin, before I have you gagged. I always knew you were a loose cannon and would fuck up someday. Walker was a bit of a surprise though. Always thought she was too good a professional to let you drag her down with you." Casey said. "Then again, maybe her lady feelings just got the better of here. As far as the rest of your comments, I wouldn't say that again. In case you didn't notice, you're surrounded by Marines. One them, maybe even Bartowski there, might decide to mess up your pretty little face."

"Get real Casey. First, they can't touch me without getting into trouble. Second, even if they tried, I can take any pansy-ass Marine, especially Chuck." Bryce responded arrogantly. Casey just grinned.

"You're forgetting a couple of things, Larkin. First, the only witnesses right now are me and Walker. And I certainly wouldn't tell. And I'm just guessing that Walker realizes just how deep in the shut you are and th only way to come out of it even remotely clean is to stop covering for your worthless ass." Casey said. "And second, my money would be on Bartowski. I heard what you did to him in college; I think he'd be perfectly willing to kick your ass. I wouldn't blame him. But his personal reasons for disliking you aside, he's also one hell of a Marine and a Raider. I've worked with his team twice already. And he's worth ten of you, Moron!"

 _ **end flashback**_

To say that Sarah was shocked by Casey's words was an understatement. Not about his assessment of Bryce, the animosity between the two was legendary. No, what surprised her was the way Casey talked about Staff Sergeant Bartowski. In all the times she had crossed paths with Casey, this was the first time she could remember him heaping any praise or complements on anyone.

 _When I get back stateside, I'm going to have to look at Bartowskis file. Those two missions that Casey was involved in with him must have been doozies for Casey to heap praise like that._ Sarah thought. _Assuming of course I still have a job._

 **CIA Headquarters**

 **Langley, Virginia**

 **July 17, 2015**

Deputy Director of Operations Langston Graham swore under his breath, cursing Bryce Larkin and Charles Flemming, as he was escorted from the Office of the Director of Central Intelligence in handcuffs. It had all been going so well up until a few months ago.

 _What the hell was Larkin thinking? One decision and he's undone more than 10 years of work!_ Graham thought. Graham had been planning his rise to the top of the Agency since he had been recruit nearly two decades ago. Key among his plan was to gather elite enforcers, personally loyal to him, to carry out missions that he choose…thereby ensuring he would get the credit. So when Fleming had contacted him back in 2001 that Larkin had pressured him to frame a potential fellow recruit for Project Omaha, he was pleased. He had known Stephen Bartowski and kept tabs on the family. While both father and son were brilliant, they suffered from what Graham described as terminal righteousness. While the son might be induced to take arms (as indeed he did by joining the Marines), Graham knew that he would not get the unwaveringly/unquestioning loyalty he needed. So he had ordered Fleming to go along with the plan. That had been his first mistake.

Despite his skill and desirable personality, Larkin proved unable to handle Project Omaha, and the program had to be scrapped. At the time, it looked like just a minor setback to Graham's plans. The pairing of Larkin and Walker, even without Omaha, proved to be very successful. Unfortunately he didn't notice until recently that Larkin had taken his failure in Project Omaha very badly and had begun taking very big risks in an effort to redeem himself. Graham didn't need Walker to tell him that.

 _And then the bastard goes off half-cocked on an unsanctioned mission! And manages to convince Walker to go along with it!_ Graham thought angrily. For a while it looked as though he had lost his best agents. And then word had came that they had been rescued during a hostage rescue mission by the Marine Raiders. It looked as though he would be able to salvage the situation.

 _But then that damn Fleming had to go and get killed. And in a fit of remorse, send a video file containing a recording of Larkin's meeting with Fleming and my conversation with Fleming to Harper._ Graham thought.

Graham and Thomas Harper had never gotten along. Part of that was because Harper, being former military, still insisted that there should be rules and a code in what they did. Part of it was because Graham was furious that Harper's team had been given the latitude that they had, and reported directly to the DCI, instead of Graham. He knew that Harper had been looking for ways to embarrass him and push him out, but until Fleming's email, had been unable too.

Now Graham had been suspended and placed in custody pending a full investigation. Likewise, all his enforcers were being questioned. No matter what happened, Graham's career was over. The only question was whether he was going to go to jail or worse, have a sanction placed on him.


	5. Chapter 5

_Authors Note: Thanks everyone for the reviews. I'm truly humbled by your comments and thank you for your inputs. To answer a few questions I received: yes Chuck will get the Intersect, we will here more about Chuck and Casey's relationship, and Chuck will definitely encounter Larkin again and get some overdue payback. Finally, we will start to see Harper and Jack Ryan more regularly._

 _And now for a word of caution. As the story progresses, there is going to be some_ _political/moral discussions. One of my complaints with the series, despite how much I liked it, is its basic portrayal of the CIA and NSA in general, both with regards to the agencies operating domestically and the rather cold-blooded/sadistic ways they seem to work. This is not new; it's pretty much become common in television, film and books to either portray the military/intelligence community as bloodthirsty conspirators or bungling idiots. I can't stand this. Yes, sometimes the government and the organizations we trust with our protection do dumb things, even questionable and occasionally illegal_ things. I'm not naïve. But to assume or portray them as only being that is dishonest and _a great disservice to these organizations, the people who work for them, and us as a people (I'm speaking of Americans, since I am an American). So going forward I am going to try my best to show the many sides of these groups, and the people that work for them. There will still be villains associated with them, and questionable actions, but it will not be all there is about them. And I'm going to try and give a plausible scenario (well as plausible as something like the Intersect idea can be) as to how agencies like the CIA and NSA can operate domestically. I'll get off my soapbox now. On with the show!_

 **CIA Transport**

 **In Flight**

 **July 20, 2005**

Sarah sighed as she relaxed into her seat. Her, Bryce, and Casey had been escorted to the CIA transport five hours earlier and the plane had been in the air for three hours. The plane would be stopping at Aviano AFB for refueling, and then would continue on to McGuire AFB in New Jersey. After refueling at that location, it would proceed to Langley. Once it landed in Langley, her and Bryce would be escorted to CIA headquarters for debriefing. Depending on how that went, they would either be put on administrative leave to recover, fired, or led away in handcuffs.

She had spent the last hour composing her written report on everything that happened, under the watchful eye of Casey. Bryce had refused to speak with either of them since the confrontation with Casey three days earlier and Sarah's decision to tell Casey (and the Marines) the truth about what had happened. He had dozed off almost immediately after the plane took off. After finishing her report, she gave the computer back to Casey, who spent a few minutes reading it.

"How the hell did you let this get so far, Walker?" Casey asked gruffly. Though he and Sarah did not know each other well, at least personally, as some of the top agents in their respective agencies they had run into each other before and knew each other by reputation. "I never would have thought you'd cover for a partner that was this out of control."

Sarah sighed again. This was the question that would be the hardest to answer when they got to Langley.

"Believe me Casey, I never thought I would either." She said, talking a slow breath and letting it out. "We were a great team, at least in the beginning, you know? We seemed to be so in sync. After a while, it became comfortable; hell it was the most stable relationship I've had since I was 13. And then I thought I feel in love. That was about the time of the Omaha Project. When that failed, I was in deep; I felt sorry for Bryce and wanted to help him get his confidence back. But he just kept spiraling. By the time I realized how bad things were, it was too late." She looked at Casey; she saw sympathy in his eyes, something that shocked her.

"Believe it or not Walker, I understand, sort of." He said. "Oh, I know all that bullshit they feed us about keeping our emotions out of the job. But it's just that, bullshit. Human beings aren't machines that can just turn off our emotions; the best we can do is to try to manage them and keep them from making us do something stupid. But it doesn't always work; I know, I've been there. Not as bad as you, but I've been there nonetheless."

"Thanks Casey." She said. "Let's talk about something else."

"Like what, Walker?"

"Tell me about Staff Sergeant Bartowski." Sarah said. "I've never heard you compliment someone like that before; he must have really impressed you." Casey grunted in amusement.

"He's different, Walker. The kid had a full ride to Stanford, double major in Computer and Electrical Engineering. He was only 12 credits from graduating when your partner framed him for cheating and got him kicked out. Then he stole the girl Bartowski was going to propose to. Apparently he went into bit of a tailspin after that; spent three months working at a Buymore and generally falling apart." Casey said. "Then 9/11 happened. And that kid decided he was being selfish for wallowing in what happened to him and decided he wanted to do something to keep something like that from happening again. So he enlisted in the Corps. And he's been kicking ass, both literally and figuratively, ever since. He's made Staff Sergeant eighteen months ahead of when someone typically would. Graduated near the top of his class in his Raider training too."

"How'd you meet him?"

"First time I met him was a little over two years ago; he wasn't a Raider then, just a simple Rifleman. I'd manage to locate a regional Taliban leader that we'd been after for months and was able to grab him. Bartowski's until was sent to extract us. The meet up went without a hitch, but about halfway back to the FOB, we were ambushed. RPGs took out the lead and rear vehicle in the column and we started taking small arms fire from all sides." Casey said. "It was pretty dicey for a while. That kid exposed himself to fire three times pulling injured Marines from the line of fire; took two rounds to the chest on the last one. Luckily his body armor stopped them from penetrating, but you know as well as I do that just because it doesn't penetrate, doesn't mean you don't get injured. Anyway, most of the patrol was injured or wounded at that point. There was only one .50 still in commission but the gunner got hit. Bartowski jumped into the wrecked HUMVEE and got on the gun and layed down suppressing fire. It was 10 minutes before a Cobra gunship got over head and was able to chase off the insurgents. When it was all over the kid had taken a minor wound to the arm in addition to the wounds from the impact to his vest. He refused to be taken out of action for the arm; said it was not much of a scratch."

"And the second time?" Sarah asked.

"A couple months ago, right after Fallujah, the Deputy head of the Iraqi National Police and his family were ambushed and killed. More like slaughtered, including the yougest who was only five." Casey said. "NSA intercepted some chatter not long after that told us it wasn't insurgents like we initially thought. Turned out there was an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commando team in the country, helping the insurgency. We were able to track them down. We could have used a drone, but the President wanted prisoners he could use as bargaining chips. So I was detailed to a Raider team and tasked with the capture. Turned out it was Bartowski's unit. The kid saved my life that day. We breached the hideout and managed to take down the team, but one of the wounded ones decided to get cute with a grenade. Bartowski didn't hesitate, didn't flinch. Before anyone knew what was happening, he kicked the dn thing out a window and threw himself at me and another Marine who were nereby. Needless to say, I really started taking an interest in the kid."

 **CIA Headquarters**

 **Office of Thomas Harper**

 **Langley, Virginia**

"Come on in Jack." Harper said, seeing Jack standing at the door. Jack walked in, carrying a folder. "Any luck?" Jack hande him the folder.

"Some. Thanks to the info in the video that Fleming sent, I've been able able to identify half a dozen questionable slush accounts used by Graham. A lot of the money seems to have been used for borderline legitimate ops, but there's a couple of payouts that are anything but legitimate." Jack answered. Harper nodded at the information.

"That seems to tally with the other information the teams been able to gather. Would you believe the bastard was arrogant enough to keep a journal? We found it last night at his vacation cottage." Harper said.

"Is it going to be enough?" Jack asked. Right now Graham was only suspended and being held for questioning. But they really needed to buryhim for good.

"Should be more than enough to put him away in Leavenworth for life." Harper said with a grin. "Bastards like Graham are the reason the public are so suspicious of us. Luckily the Director is as intent on cleaning things up as we are."

"What about Graham's enforcers?" Jack asked.

"Most are already in custody. Thanks to Graham's journal we have a pretty good idea which ones were generally duped by him and which ones were active conspirators. But we're going to hold all of them for a bit just to be sure." Harper answered.

"What about Chuck?" Jack asked. Harper smiled; ever since Fleming's email came in Jack had been pushing Harper to clear up Bartowski's record.

"Our lawyers spoke with Stanford this morning. His college record has been cleared. Turns out he didn't actually need the last 12 credits; he had already met his degree requirements, so he's going to got his diploma. Harper said. "The Director is meeting with the Commadant this afternoon. By next week Bartowski will have orders to Quantico for OCS."

"And after?"

"That has yet to be decided. The Director and I are going over to the White House Monday morning for a meeting with the Presideant, the National Security Advisor, General Beckman, the Attorney General, the Chairman of the Joint Chuefs, and the Ranking Members of the Judiciary, Intelligence Oversight, and Armed Services committees." Harper replied. "If they go for my plan, then by this time next year, you and I, along with Bartowski and a few others, will all have a new assignment."

 **CIA Headquarters**

 **Office of the Director of Central Intelligence**

 **Langley, Virginia**

 **July 21, 2005**

The last 24 hours had been a whirlwind for Sarah. After landing in Langley, she and Bryce had been escorted to CIA headquarters. Once there they had been seperated, with each of them being placed in a different interrogation room for questioning. Surprisingly, despite the presence of a lie detector, Sarah's questioning had not been what she had expected.

They did ask a lot of the questions she thought they would but the whole experience was less confrontaional than she had expected. The really only unnerving part of the experience was towards the end, when they had quizzed her about her history with Graham. Then there was the fact that Graham hadn't been present at all.

After several hours she had been taken to one of several small apartment like quarters housed in the building, which was another surprise. She had half expected to thrown in a detention cell. Instead, they seemed to be treating her more like an asset or guest.

After a a restless night sleep, Sarah had been informed that the DCI wanted to meet with her. To say that Sarah was nervous was understatement. Ed Foley had only been DCI for five months, having taken over the agency's top job while she and Bryce had been held hostage. She had never met him before, but he ad his wife were legends in the Agency. Her nervousness further increased upon seeing said wife, Mary Pat, and Thomas Harper, in the office as well.

"Good morning, Agent Walker. Please take a seat." Director Foley said, motioning towards the chair in front of his desk. Sarah walked to the chair and sat down, folding her hands in her lap.

"I'll get right to the point, Agent Walker. Deputy Director Graham has been relieved of his duties and is currently under arrest for numerous crimes, including but not limited too, embezzlement, misappropriation of funds, violations of numerous laws regarding Intelligence operations, conspiracy to commit murder and murder. Further, all of Deputy Director Graham's cadre of agents known as Enforcers, have either been arrested or are currently under investigation...save you."

Sarah visibly paled as the director spoke. Langston Graham had been her mentor; indeed he was responsible for her recruitment into the CIA.

"Can I ask why, Director?" She asked. Director Foley nodded to Harper.

As Harper began speaking and relaying the events of the last few days, Sarah was astonished, angry and ashamed. She had always beleved that the missions Graham had assigned her were legal and necessary for the defense of the nation. Indeed, it was the thing that kept her from the despair that lurked just under the surface in regards to some of the things she had to do. To find out she had been duped and lied to on a number of occasions threw her into a tailspin.

"The reason you are here Agent Walker, rather then is a holding cell is because we feel that unlike the rest of Graham's special agents, you are as much a victim anyone. Graham broke protocol by recruiting you as young as you were. He then compounded that sin by not ensuring you got the counseling you needed after the four years you were on the run with your father. He manipulated you to become what he needed. His journal makes clear the barring th incident that led to your capture, your record is clean. You operated under good faith based on the information he provided." Director Foley said. "That being said, you are not totally out of the woods. You broke protocol by not reporting Mr. Larkin's intelligence and went on an unsanctioned mission. You also failed to notify the Agency of serious concerns regarding Mr. Larkin's mental stability. Therefore, I'm afraid I have no choice but to put you on administrative leave. During that time, you will see an Agency appoint counselor to work through your unresolved issues, including those related to your captivity. You will not be considered for active duty until such time as this counselor believes you are ready."

Sarah felt some of the weight that had been pressing her chest since she arrived start to lift. Being put on Adminstrative leave and forced to counseling was the best possible outcome. It meant that not only would she not be going to jail but also that the Agency believed she could still be an asset to them.

"Thank you, Director." She said.

"Now on to other matters. As of today, there are going to be some major changes. First, when you are cleared to return, you will be forwarded to Harpers unit. My wife has been tapped by the President to fill Graham's position. Effective immediately, there will be no more red tests and no more sanctions approved at a level lower than this office. I expect all agents to comport themselves properly and obey all relevant laws and the new code of conduct that we are developing. Finally, the days of remainin silent when we notice an issue with our fellow agents or freelancing missions are over." Director Foley said with some passion. "Can you work under those conditions, Agent Walker?"

"Yes Director." Sarah said.

 **Casa Bartowski**

 **Echo Park, CA**

 **July 28, 2005**

Ellie was on her way home from work and had just stopped at her mail box to get the mail. Taking the stack out of the box, she closed the door and started walking to the apartment that she shared with Devon.

"Devon, I'm home!" She yelled as she came in. She dropped the pile of mail on the table. When she did so, she noticed the a letter from Stanford addressed to Chuck.

 _I wonder why Stanford is writing Chuck?_ She thought to herself. She picked up the letter and opened it. She began reading, her eyes widening as she reached the bottom. Then she let out a sequel of joy so loud that Devon came rushing in from the other room.

"Babe? What's up?" Devon asked. Wordlessly Ellie handed the letter to him. He quickly read the letter. "Awesome!"

 **Camp Independence**

 **Coalition Operating Base**

 **Al-Anbar Province, Iraq**

 **July 30, 2005**

"Take a seat Bartowski." Captain Highway said after returning Chuck's salute. "I just got some memorandum that affects you."

"Me sir?" Chuck asked confused.

"Yep. First off, we've been notified that during a recent review of old investigations, Stanford University has determined that you did not receive due process in time there. And apparently they also found new information which has exonerated you. Since you had already met your degree requirements, theye awarded you your diploma. Our records have already been updated." Captain Higheay said with a grin. The look on Chuck's face was a mix of shock and happiness.

"All be damned." Was all Chuck could say. He had dreamed of something like this happening but never that it would.

"Also, I need you to give me a recommendation on who can take over leading your team."

"Take over Captain?" Chuck asked confused.

"Congratulations Bartowski. Now that you have your degree, you're headed to Officer Candidate School." Captain Highway said, handing Chuck a sheet of paper. "The next class starts August 30. Unfortunately we'll need you to help with th transition with your team before you can leave, so you won't get the normal two weeks leave before hand, but I've been instructed to have to put you on a transport home no later than August 25, so you'll at least have a few days in DC before you have to report to Quantico."


	6. Chapter 6

**Outside Casa Bartowski**

 **Echo Park, CA**

 **May 10, 2006**

Chuck sighed as he listened to another of his sister's female doctor friends hit on him. He loved his sister dearly, but she had become obsessed lately with him finding a girlfriend and since he was home on leave after completing OCS and The Basic School, she had decided to throw a party. Officially it was to celebrate the first time in five years that he had been home and his commissioning as a 2nd Lieutenant in the USMC. But it was quickly apparent by the nearly 3 to 1 ratio of female to male invitees that she was trying to hook her brother up.

 _How many times do I need to tell her I'm not interested in relationship right now?_ Chuck thought to himself. It wasn't that Chuck found the woman unattractive, but Chuck didn't do one night stands and with his career in Marine special operations, it was highly unlikely that a relationship with someone in Burbank would last. And frankly, he had seen the life of being a Marine take a toll on too many of his fellow Marine's marriages and relationships.

 _At least this one didn't ask me a bunch of stupid questions, like "how many people did you kill."_ Chuck thought. Like all combat veterans, he was reluctant to talk about his experiences with civilians.

"Chuck, buddy!" a voice shouted, bringing him out of his thoughts and interrupting the woman flirting. He looked over to see his best friend since childhood, Morgan Grimes, come walking over towards him.

"Morgan! How's it hanging?" Chuck said, excusing himself from the woman and walking over to Morgan. The two friends embraced in a hug, and then separated.

"Oh, you know, same old, same old. I'm Assistant Manager at the Buymore now." Morgan said, grinning. "Needless to say, Jeff and Lester are thrilled." Chuck laughed; he was all too familiar with the Buymore's resident slime balls from his time there during and after college.

"Congratulations." Chuck said earnestly. "I always knew you had it in you."

"Well, you know. I figured if my best bud could go and join the Marines to save the world, the least I could do was grow up a little and start taking things more seriously." Morgan replied. "Besides, with my new salary I can actually afford a place of my own. Now I don't have to listen to Big Mike and mom getting it on."

Chuck grinned. He still remembered the shock and horror when Morgan had discovered that Big Mike had been dating Morgan's mom. It had made for a very uncomfortable few weeks at the Buymore.

"Glad to hear it." Chuck said. "How's everything else going? Seeing anyone?" Morgan shook is head slightly.

"Not really; there's this new girl at the Orange Orange that seems pretty nice. We've talked a few times while I was in there, but right now we're still just acquaintances. Though Alexis is hot, and pretty easy to talk to. I wouldn't mind if it went further, but I don't want to rush it and scare her off. It's bad enough she has to put up with Jeff and Lester leering at her during their lunch breaks." Morgan answered. "So Ellie said you're only going to be here until the 22nd. Where are they sending after that? Back to Iraq?"

"Nope, at least not yet. I've got orders to return to Quantico for special assignment. They haven't given me any details though." Chuck said. _With my luck it'll be some damn rear echelon assignment which is not what I want. I need to get back in the fight._

 **CIA Black Site**

 **Undisclosed Location**

 **May 22, 2006**

Bryce Larkin cursed his life for what seemed like the thousandth time. He had been one of aces of the CIA at one time; now he was nothing more than a detainee. He had spent the last year cooped up in this godforsaken place, wherever here was.

 _And all because of that bastard Fleming._ Bryce thought. He couldn't believe he had so misjudged the man. He was sure that once he had coerced him into sabotaging Chuck's scores, Fleming would be the typical weak-willed academic, too afraid to make waves and come clean. Unfortunately that notion proved incorrect as soon as he and Sarah were "escorted" back to Langley. It was a shock to see that Fleming had recorded their conversation. Not only that, but afterwards he had tried to sell out Bryce to Graham and recorded that call.

Then there was Sarah. She was another one that he and apparently Graham had misjudged. According to her psychological profile, her pre-CIA life (parents divorced, living for years as an accomplice wither con man father, thereby not being able to form normal attachments) along with the method of recruitment and her young age and Graham's unique training program, should have made her very her not only an effective enforcer but very loyal to Graham and by extension, Bryce. The psychiatrists were sure she was so desperate for acceptance, a father figure, and male companionship that she would do anything to protect them. And for a while, it seemed they were right.

The first cracks in this theory started to appear just after the Project Omaha debacle. She began questioning his actions a decisions, and as time went on, he could tell she was becoming more and more unsure about him, their partnership, and their relationship. That was why he had set up the last mission. He suspected that she was approaching the breaking point and would attempt to have him pulled from field operations. So he had used one of his contacts in the insurgency to set an ambush. When they got to the camp, the insurgents were supposed to kidnap the women in the aid worker party, and kill Sarah. He would escape and then report the sad news that his partner had been killed. Instead, his contact had double crossed him and captured all of them.

As if that wasn't bad enough, during his captivity in Iraq, Fleming had been cornered by Fulcrum and instead of just dying, he had sent the recordings of his conversations with Bryce and Graham to the CIA's in-house Boy Scout, Thomas Harper. And then to cap it off, Sarah had submitted a brutally honest report to the new DCI. Before he had even made it into the building, Bryce was arrested and interrogated.

 _Fucking Bitch._ He thought. A noise outside his cell brought him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see a tall, well-built and black haired man that he had never seen before standing at the door to his cell. The man turned and whispered something to the guard. A moment later, the door opened and the man stepped in.

"Looks like you're a little down on your luck, eh, Larkin" the man said with a slight grin.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Bryce asked.

"To offer you a job. And a chance at revenge." the man replied. Suddenly he whirled back towards the guard, a silenced pistol in his hand. A moment later the guard dropped dead with two bullets in his chest and one in his forehead. He then turned back to Larkin.

"Who are you? Who do you work for?" Bryce demanded again, as alarms sounded around them.

"The names Shaw...Daniel Shaw." He said in a bad imitation of James Bond. "Fulcrum would like to offer you a job."

 **CIA Headquarters**

 **Langley, Virginia**

 **Office of Thomas Harper**

 **May 25, 2005**

Sarah took a deep breath as she tried to steady her nerves. It had been almost 10 months she she had been placed on administrative leave and ordered to see a CIA vetted psychiatrist to work through her feelings on her captivity, as well as the revelation of how Bryce and Graham had used her, and the lingering issues stemming from her father. Not being one who liked to talk about her feelings, it had been a rough go for a while. Finally, three months after starting, she had started to make progress, and within another four months had reached a point where her the psychiatrist felt she was able to return to duty. Of course she couldn't go back in the field right away; per the Director's orders, she was required to go through a three month evaluation/refresher training at Camp Peary. That had ended three days ago and she had been ordered to report to Thomas Harper for assignment.

"Agent Walker, please come in." Harper said as she walked in the door. "Please take a seat." She walked over and sat down in front of his desk. He was glancing at a folder.

"Well, according to Dr. Engel and your evaluators at The Farm, it looks like you're ready for duty." he said. "Do you agree? Any outstanding issues?"

"No sir." Sarah responded, shaking her head. "I'm anxious to get back to work."

"Good." Harper said, putting down the file. "As you know, this unit is tasked with helping prevent another 9/11 here on American soil. We accomplish this through a variety of means, and I dare say our record speaks for itself. You are one of the best field agents the CIA has. I'd really like to have you on the team."

"Thank you sir. I'd be honored." Sarah replied.

"Don't thank me yet, Agent Walker." Harper said, grinning a little. "While I'd like you on this team, there is another project I would equally like you on, one that I myself will be stepping down from my current post to oversee. I'm afraid I can't go into details here, except to say that it does dovetail with this unit's current mission but also goes beyond it. And that might prove to be the most important national security effort in the last 30 years. I can also tell you that it will be a multi-agency and multi jurisdictional assignment."

Harper pushed a business card over to her. She took it and looked at it.

"It's your decision, agent. If you want to join that operation, be at that address at 0900 sharp, the day after tomorrow. If not, call me and we will have you assigned here." Harper said.

 **NSA Headquarters**

 **Fort Meade, Maryland**

"You wanted to see me, General?" Newly promoted Major John Casey asked.

"Sit down, John." Major General Diane Beckman, a diminutive redhead, said. After Casey had taken his seat, Beckman continued. "I have a new assignment for you. It's strictly voluntary however."

"What's the assignment?" Casey asked.

"Unfortunately I can't give you much detail here. All I can tell you is it involves counter-terrorism, and that it will be a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional operation." Beckman answered. "If you are interested, be at the address on this card by 0900 the day after tomorrow. I completely understand if you don't want to take the assignment given how little information I've been able to provide. But understand this Major, if you decide to show up, there will be no backing out."

 **DEA Headquarters**

 **Arlington, VA**

"Dammit Miller! You're one of my best agents, but you're too unpredictable! This is the fourth partner that's requested a transfer in two years! And the 2nd operation you almost blew because you couldn't keep it in your pants!" Director Lawrence Montag shouted at the red-headed agent in front of him. "Do you know the kind of pressure I'm getting from the Attorney General and the Columbians to fire your ass?!"

DEA agent Carina Miller winced at the Director's words. She knew she was a loose cannon that thrived on the adrenaline she got from the job, but deep down she also knew that what she did was important and made a difference. Thus far her success rate was enough to offset her wild way of doing things. But from the tone of the Director's voice, it sounded as though that time was coming to an end. She honestly didn't know what she would do if she couldn't be a DEA agent anymore.

"I'm sorry Director." she said earnestly, sensing that her usual flippant and comedic way of interacting would be the wrong approach right now. "I know that I'm a loose cannon and a major pain in the ass. I'll try to do better." The Director stared at her for a few moments, then let out a sigh.

"Agent Miller...Carina." he began, "The truth is we're partly at fault as well. You're record of success has been so exemplary that we choose to ignore the problem, instead focusing on results. But as I said, you are my top agent, despite your faults. It's for that reason I've resisted the pressure to fire you."

"Thank you, Director." Carina said with a slight smile.

"Don't get feeling all comfortable and relieved yet, Carina. You're being assigned to a new project; it's technically volunteer-only, but I will say that you're only other choice right now is a stint in the analysis section for the time being." he said. Carina made a face of displeasure at that thought. "I thought so. I can only tell you a little about the project here. It is a multi-agency/multi-jurisdictional task force directed at combating terrorism. If you want in, be at the address on this card by 0900 day after tomorrow. But understand, Carina, there is no changing your mind. If you take this assignment you're there for the duration, unless they want you gone. And if you get yourself canned from the task force, there will be no additional chances. Your career with the DEA will be over."

 **Various locations across the Metro Washington D.C. Area**

At various locations across the city, similar conversations were taking place. In each instance the individual was asked to volunteer for a joint task force and little information was available to them concerning it. The most common denominator between all were that each one did not hesitate to volunteer, and they were some of the best in their fields.


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's note: Well here we are at last. After several chapters of background and setup, we are finally going to see things move into semi-familiar territory, though Team Bartowski is going to be larger and there will be no angst and minimal Will They/Won't They (WT/WT) nonsense between Chuck and Sarah. One warning: this chapter is going to be heavy on legal discussions. This is necessary to try and form a semi-realistic basis for a team including military, CIA, and NSA personnel operating domestically. Also, I'll admit that I am not a lawyer, so my understanding of the relevant laws I will reference may not be 100% accurate, but I'll do my best. Because of this, this chapter will be my longest yet and may feel dry at parts, but it is a necessary evil in my mind for advancing the story. I apologize in advance._

 **Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)**

 **Liberty Crossing**

 **Tysons Corner, VA**

 **Entrance**

Chuck walked into ODNI and made his way to the security checkpoint.

"Name?" The guard asked.

"Second Lieutenant Charles Bartowski." Chuck said, handing the guard his military identification card. The guard took his ID and looked it over, first comparing it to the person standing in front of him and then to the picture on the computer screen. Next he consulted the log book on the desk. Picking up the phone he dialed a number.

"Lieutenant Bartowski is here, sir." He spoke into the phone. After a few seconds he put the phone back on his cradle. He handed Chuck a badge stamped VISITOR - ESCORT REQUIRED. He then motioned for Chuck to stand in the body scanner. After verifying Chuck had no weapons or recording devices, he motion for him to take a seat in a small waiting area.

As he sat waiting, Chuck couldn't help but wonder why he had been ordered to report here. He had assumed upon returning to Marine Corps Base Quantico that he would receive orders back to the Marine Raider Regiment and then join one of the deployed units in Afghanistan or Iraq. Instead he was told to report here for a special assignment.

 _Dammit. I should be joining my fellow Raiders on deployment instead of sitting here._ He thought to himself.

"Hey Chuck." A voice called, interrupting his thoughts. Chuck looked up in surprise, recognizing the voice.

"Jack!" Chuck said in greeting, standing up and offering his hand to his former C.O. "What are you doing here?"

"The boss asked me to come down and get you, seeing as I'm partly responsible for getting you here in the first place." Jack said.

"What is this Jack?" Chuck asked.

"Relax Chuck. All will be explained shortly." Jack said, motioning for Chuck to follow him. The two men walk down a corridor, then got into an elevator. A minute later they exited the elevator and Chuck found himself in front of a secure conference room.

 **Office of the Director of National Intelligence**

 **Liberty Crossing**

 **Tysons Corner, VA**

 **Secure Conference Room**

Sarah glanced around the large conference room. There were about a dozen people seated around the room. She knew some of them, such as Casey, Carina and Harper, either personally or by sight. Others she did not know and as introductions were being held off until the arrival of the last guess (at least according to Harper) she spent her time waiting chatting with Carina. The two agents had partnered briefly on a few missions in the past and had what amounted to a friendship. It had been almost a year since they had seen each other. First Sarah and Bryce had gone on the ill-fated mission in Iraq and then during their captivity, Carina had gone undercover in a drug ring, having only recently returned.

"So when's Larkin get here?" Carina asked. "I'd have thought your boy-toy would be joined at the hip with you." As soon as she said the words, Carina knew she had made a mistake. The look of hatred and disgust that displayed on Sarah's face was like nothing she had seen on the blonde agent before.

"No. That worthless son-of-a-bitch is never going to be anywhere near me again." Sarah said with venom. "And frankly, if he tried to show up here, he'd be dead before he got within 100 yards. He's been sanctioned."

"Sanctioned? What the hell happened?" Carina asked, shocked.

"It's a long story, Carina." Sarah said. "Basic outline: it was Bryce's fault we got captured; he's been becoming more and more unstable. On top of that, turns out he and Graham had been involved in some pretty shady dealings. That's why he and Graham were arrested; Graham is still in a deep dark hole. Bryce was to until he escaped."

Carina gulped; Graham was very powerful and very successful as the Deputy Director of Operations. Whatever he was involved in, it had to be serious for him to be arrested and thrown into a hole.

"I think we need a girls night so you can fill me in." Carina said.

"We'll see. After all, we still don't know what we're going to be doing, do we?" Sarah said. At that moment the phone near the front of the room beeped. Harper picked it up and listened for a few moments.

"I'll send someone down." He said into the phone and then replaced on the cradle. He turned to a brown-haired man next to him. "Jack, our last guest is here; can you go down and escort him up? He'd probably appreciate seeing a friendly face."

Sarah watched as the man nodded and exited the conference room. _So that's Jack Ryan._ she thought to herself. He had been making a name for himself since joining the agency, having started out as strictly an analyst working under Harper and rapidly moving into field operations as well. _I wonder who this mystery guest is?_

A few minutes later, the door to the conference room opened and Jack walked in, followed closely by a tall, brown-haired man dressed in the green and khaki Class A Service Dress Uniform of a 2nd Lieutenant of the Marines.

"Lieutenant Bartowski, Thomas Harper. It's a pleasure to meet you. Jack speaks very highly of you." Harper said, rising and shaking his hand.

"Thank you sir." Chuck said. "But between you and me, Jack's been known to exaggerate a lot." Harper chuckled.

"That he does." Harper said. "Have a seat." Chuck walked over to an empty chair and sat down, scanning the room. Catching sight of Casey, he gave the NSA agent a small grin and nod, which Casey returned. Then his eyes fell on Sarah and did a double take. The last time he had seen her she had been pretty rough shape. He had been captivated by her then; now he was completely stunned. She was incredibly beautiful; almost like an angel. He felt her piercing blue eyes bore into his soul.

For her part, Sarah was equally as enthralled. At the time of her rescue she had been attracted by his deep brown eyes. Now, without all the body armor and equipment on him, she could easily see that he was quite attractive physically. In addition to being very tall, he had a swimmer's body, muscular and fit while still being lithe. She felt herself go slightly red as she imagined what he might look like out of that uniform. The sound of someone clearing their throat brought both out of their thoughts.

"Now that I have everyone's attention," Harper began, smiling slightly, "I suppose you are all wondering why you're here. Before we get to that, please read the Non-Disclosure Forms in front of you. When you're done, sign and date them. Everything we will be discussing here today is Top Secret - Codeword Classified. It is not to be discussed with anyone outside of this room. Period. If I find out anyone has leaked even the most minor detail, you will be arrested, and if you're lucky, dropped into the deepest, darkest hole we have. Or you will be sanctioned. What we are about to discuss is that sensitive." He looked around the room, gauging whether or not his words had gotten through. By the looks on all the faces, he had.

A few minutes later, after everyone had read their NDAs and signed them, he continued.

"You've all been asked here because you are at the top of the list in your respective agencies and fields. As you know, since 9/11 the U.S. and its allies have been engaged throughout the world battling Islamic terrorism. Before that, and still today, we were also fighting narco-terrorism and human trafficking. One of the major impediments to the success of these missions, and indeed a major contributing factor to the surprise we suffered on 9/11 was the lack of coordination between the various law enforcement, intelligence, and military agencies. Some of this was because of outdated statutory laws and regulations; some of it was because of institutional competition.

Shortly after 9/11, we were directed by the President, and subsequent acts of Congress, to begin sharing information and cooperating more closely. Over the last five years, we have made much progress. However, we can and must do better. That's what you already know.

What most of you don't know, or have only heard rumors of, is the fact that this country is engaged in another war; a domestic one. It is being waged against a rogue faction of the government that calls itself Fulcrum. This war has been going on for decades. They have compromised much of the government; they have no political allegiance save their own quest for power and have become master manipulators, working from the shadows to ferment distrust and conflict between our political parties, between the citizens and the government and between various agencies within our government.

As a result, the President has directed me to form a special joint counterterrorism task force. And that's where you come in. You all are the best field agents in your agencies. You will be this new task force. You will be supported by a small but equally skilled support staff. Our broad mission is to combat terrorism in whatever form comes our way. First and foremost in accomplishing that is the destruction of Fulcrum."

"How's this going to work?" A slim black haired woman asked. "This Fulcrum as you call sounds like a completely domestic organization. NSA and CIA don't have the legal authority to operate domestically. And using the military is a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, not to mention against Pentagon policy."

"Excellent question, Agent Forrest." Harper replied. "First, the National Security Act, the Patriot Act, the Intelligence Services Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and the Intelligence Oversight Act all make allowances for the CIA and NSA to provide support to the FBI in its role as the counterintelligence authority and law enforcement. Second, Posse Comitatus only applies when not superseded by other acts of Congress. Even then it technically only applies to the Army and Air Force as they are specifically called out in the law. It's been DoD policy to apply this to the Navy and Marines, but strictly speaking, they are not covered by Posse Comitatus. And it only applies to military personnel on active duty and acting in an official military capacity. Regardless, several acts of Congress, specifically the Military Assistance to Law Enforcement Act, does provide for military assistance to law enforcement in a technical or logistics supply role. Finally, under both the Constitution and the Insurrection Act of 1807, in the case of domestic insurrection, the President can utilize the military to put down the insurrection.

After consultation with the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense, along with the DNI, the Attorney General, and the Ranking Members of the Judiciary, Intelligence Oversight, and Armed Services committees, the President has issued a National Security and Homeland Security finding that Fulcrum is in fact a domestic insurrection against the legitimate state and federal governments, thereby bypassing the Posse Comitatus Act. However, since we don't want a panic, we are going to take advantage of a loophole in the Judiciary Act of 1789 which created the U.S. Marshals Service, and Title 28 USC Chapter 37. Under both of those acts, the Marshals have the authority to serve and enforce federal writs and warrants and pursue fugitives, and are granted authority to exercise the same powers as local law enforcement. They also have statutory and common law power to deputize civilians."

"And all that means is?" Chuck asked.

"Effective immediately, all NSA and CIA field personnel on the team are being deputized by the Marshal Service. Further, any military personnel assigned are "officially" being transferred to their service's reserve component and likewise deputized. That takes care of the Domestic angle. To cover overseas operations, all law enforcement personnel are going to be "officially" enrolled in either the naval reserve or the marine reserve." Harper said. "When operating Domestically, this unit will come under the joint command of DoJ and DHS. For International ops, we will be under the DoD and DNI."

"Where will we be operating out of?" Carina asked.

"Officially, the members of this team have been assigned to the National Counter Terrorism Center as analysts or liaisons. Unofficially, we'll operate out of MCB Quantico. Besides having the advantage of being a Marine base, it also has a secure air field used by the Presidential Helicopter Squadron, ample training facilities, and houses the FBI and BATFE training academies. Luckily they have a building just suited to our purposes that we've spent the last couple of months retrofitting for our needs." Harper responded. "Now that that's out of the way, I think introductions are in order. As you know, my name is Thomas Harper. I'm going to be in overall command of this outfit. To my right is Supervisory Special Agent Stanley Madsen (FBI), who will be my Executive Officer. Starting on my left and moving right are Major John Casey (NSA), Agent Sarah Walker (CIA), Special Agent Patrick O'Day (FBI), Agent Andrea Price (Secret Service), Agent Carina Miller (DEA), 2nd Lieutenant Chuck Bartowski (USMC), Lieutenant Frank Parker (DIA), Agent Jack Ryan (CIA), Agent Jason Burton (DSS), Agent Samantha Ness (BATFE), Agent Alex Forrest (USMS), and Captain Jennifer O'Connor (USAF). You will meet the support staff later. Just know they have all been vetted and are as highly respected in their fields and agencies as you are in yours." The occupants of the room looked around and acknowledged one another in greeting. Just then the door opened and a middle-aged woman and a young man of Indian descent walked in and sat down.

Now for the next part of this briefing. Is anyone here familiar with Project Omaha?" Sarah's eyes widened slightly at hearing that. "Yes, Agent Walker?" Sarah remained quiet for a moment; as far as she knew all details of Omaha were still classified and no one in the room had been cleared for it.

"That's alright, Agent Walker." Madsen said, handing a folder too her. Inside was a signed letter stating that the details of Project Omaha to those in the room. It was co-signed by the President, the DNI, and CIA Director Foley. Sarah nodded.

"Shortly before 9/11 the CIA/NSA began a joint development project, creating a computer that would house all the intelligence data the two agencies collected and would then analyze the data searching for patterns that analysts did not. This computer was called the Intersect." Walker began. "Most of the intelligence community has at least heard rumors of that part of the project. What very few had any clue about however, was that there was a second part of the project. There was a theory that by encoding the data into images, the data could be "uploaded" for lack of a better term, directly into an field agent's head, allowing to function as a "human intersect" in the field."

"You're talking about subliminal messaging." Chuck interjected. At everyone's surprised look, he continued. "I took a course on it at Stanford. But not everyone is as susceptible to subliminal messaging as others; in addition, memory retention rate differences mean that even if someone was susceptible, they may not be able to recall the information."

"Very good, Lieutenant." the woman said.

"This is Dr. Elizabeth Michaels. Her colleague is Dr. Manoosh Depak. They were both leading scientists on the Intersect program." Harper said.

"The Lieutenant is absolutely correct; without both being susceptible to subliminal messaging and having a minimum 92% retention rate, any host that has the Intersect would be unable to recall the information. What we didn't know at the the time was that for anyone who had a retention rate below 96%, the Intersect upload would short-circuit the brain, causing personality changes and suppression to some of the higher level functions, such as those governing decision making." Dr. Michaels said. "The only agent to successfully upload it soon became erratic and the Intersect was removed and the project scrapped."

"So that's what happened to Agent Larkin." Sarah said. Chuck snorted.

"Don't kid yourself; Bryce was always a little high strung and made questionable decisions. Sounds like all this Intersect thing did was make it more pronounced or harder for him to hide it." Chuck said.

"I'm afraid Lieutenant Bartowski is right. Among the documents that former Deputy Director Graham suppressed at the time is several psyche evaluations dating to his recruitment all the way through his involvement with Project Omaha. Basically Larkin should have never even been recruited, never mind allowed near the Intersect. The doctors diagnosed him with Narcissistic Personality Disorder and borderline Psychopathy and Sociopathy disorders. If it weren't for Graham's meddling, he would never had been recruited or allowed to serve as long as he had." Harper said. "Which brings us to the present. Lieutenant Bartowski, I assume you've been wondering why you were chosen for this team?"

"Yes sir. I'm sure there are more experienced and qualified special operators that would be perfect for this mission. Maybe someone from the SEALS or Delta Force." Chuck said, although he was beginning to get a nagging feeling at the back of his head.

"I'm afraid you're wrong there. There is literally no one that has the qualification that you do" Harper said. "To explain, I'm afraid I'm going to have to go into some person history. I apologize in advance for bringing it up but it's important to this discussion.

Five years ago, while attending Stanford University, you were roommates and friends with Bryce Larkin. Earlier you mentioned a course in subliminal messaging that you took. That course was one of several instituted at various universities to help identify potential CIA recruits, specifically for Project Omaha. That was how Larkin was recruited. But you, Lieutenant Bartowski, were also targeted for recruitment. According to your test results, you scored a 98% retention rate. Unfortunately, Mr. Larkin decided he didn't want competition for the Intersect program and approached Professor Fleming under the guise of being concerned for your emotional ability to handle the life. He forced Fleming to frame you for cheating, thereby ensuring you wouldn't be recruited.

Last year, Fulcrum agents discovered Professor Fleming. Rather than risk capture and torture, Fleming decided to take his life, but not before reporting to CIA that he had been found and destroying his files. Save a handful. That was how we discovered that you had indeed been framed, your scores and Larkin's deceit. It was also how we discovered the evidence that led to DDO Graham being arrested. You see Bartowski, you should have gotten the Intersect all along. And that's why you're here. The decision has been made to restart Omaha and we need you for that. In addition to your regular mission, you will test the viability of using a human intersect in the field. The rest of the team will serve as your protectors as well as your partners."

"Do I have a choice?" Chuck asked.

"Of course, Lieutenant." Harper said. "You're involvement purely voluntary; we're not going to force anyone to do something against their will. So you are free to decline. But I will ask that you accept. This could have significant impact to our counterterrorism efforts."

"Ok. I'm in." Chuck said, turning to Dr. Michaels. "You said that you believed the issues with Bryce were because his retention rate was too low? What if you're wrong? Are you planning to dump the whole thing in my head at once or are we talking about a phased approach? Obviously from Agent Walker's story it can be removed, but how do you know it won't cause any permanent damage?" The others in the room looked on impressed not only at Chuck's instant acceptance of his role, but also at his questions.

"All excellent questions, Lieutenant." Dr. Michaels said. "Based on the records of Mr. Larkin before, during, and after the previous failed Intersect program, I believe there should be no long term damage from the Intersect itself. First, your profile does not indicate any of the psychological issues that Mr. Larkin was already saddled with prior to his Intersect upload. Second, as stated before, your retention rate is higher than the minimal threshold we have established. To be safe, will do a number of smaller test uploads and removals over the next month or so to be sure."

"Good." Chuck said. "Agent Harper, I do have one other concern; how are we going to pull off posing as Marshals, for those of us not in law enforcement, or military, for those of us in law enforcement? I mean, I understand some of the skills and what not do overlap but it seems to me we're going to have to pretty convincing for this work."

"We've arranged for a portion of The Point, the sister site to Camp Peary, to be set aside for the next few weeks under the guise of training and planning for an top secret military operation; It's a very secure facility and we've already discreetly vetted the security personnel there. You will all be flown there aboard a secure C-130 from Andrews and spend the next couple weeks there cross-training each other." Madsen said. "The area we selected is on a remote part of the base and that area of North Carolina is pretty sparse. So go home and get packed. A full set of military kit will be waiting for all law enforcement and intelligence personnel at your residence. Report to Andrews Air Force Base in four hours."

 **C-130 Transport**

 **Somewhere over Virginia**

 **Five Hours Later**

 **Chuck's POV**

Chuck sat in one of the transports jump seats, reflecting on the events of the last few hours. Around him, the other members of the task force were talking and getting to know one another.

 _Bryce-Fucking-Larkin. Tried to ruin my life so he can play James Bond._ Chuck thought. He didn't know how he felt after the revelations of the past few hours. He was angry of course, but mixed with the anger was something else. Gratitude, sort of. While he could have done without the being kicked out of school and having his girlfriend stolen part, Chuck had to admit that a lot of good had come out of it. It had opened him up to other life paths and forced him to grow up. It had put him in a position to join the Marines after 9/11 and he wouldn't trade his time there for anything; he loved being a Marine. Besides, in the end, Bryce had failed in what he was trying to prevent. Chuck had his degree and was on his way to becoming part of the Intersect project. And if he hadn't been kicked out and joined the Marines, he never would have made the friends he had, like Casey and Jack Ryan. Thoughts of what he would have given up caused him to turn to the blonde CIA agent sitting a few seats down.

 _On the other hand, if it wasn't for that asshole, I might have spent the last six years partnered with her._ Chuck thought. He was surprised at the feelings this thought brought up inside him. It reminded him of how he felt when Bryce had first introduced to him to Jill. But different at the same time. To be honest, he had felt this way when he first laid on eyes on her over year ago, when his unit had rescued her and Bryce. Then when he saw her again a few hours ago it was like he had been hit with a stun gun. Casey had teased the heck out of him on the ride after they left the DNI, having offered to take Chuck back to Quantico to get his stuff, for his reaction to Sarah upon entering the meeting.

Then Casey had told him what he knew about Sarah Walker. Chuck had been impressed listening to Casey talk about the Enforcer, as much because of the sound of respect in Casey's voice as because of the exploits he told him about. John Casey was not a man of many words or one for expressing feelings. So for Casey to speak about her the way that he did, meant that she was something special. Chuck promised himself that the first opportunity he got, he would get to know her better.

 **Sarah's POV**

Across the fuselage, sitting several seats down, Sarah was lost in her own thoughts. Unlike Chuck her mind was focused solely on one thing: 2nd Lieutenant Charles Bartowski. After her rescue and return to the States, she had looked up his file in the CIA database. To say she was impressed had been an understatement. A self-describe nerd, he certainly didn't fit her view of the stereotypical Marine. A part of her knew that that was unfair; in truth most of the Marines she had meet were far from the dumb knuckle draggers that many of her colleagues at CIA like to claim they were. But even so, Bartowski was clearly in a class all by himself. His high school and college records (up until his expulsion) were impressive. And despite his nerdy exterior and background, his records since joining the Marines were even more impressive. What got her most though was the reverence John Casey had spoke with when talking about him. It was not easy to impress John Casey.

And let's face it, he's extremely hot. Sarah thought to herself. God, listen to me. I sound like Carina. That made her smile; she and Carina had rode to Andrews together and her friend had alternated between drooling over the men on the team (including Chuck) and teasing Sarah for her reaction when Chuck walked into the room, before switching to talking about how she wouldn't mind going after Chuck herself.

 _Too bad, Carina. You're not going to get the chance._ Sarah thought. _He's not the type to fall for your hyper-aggressive moves._ She glanced a few seats over, just in time to see him look at her, clearly checking her out. She smiled at him slyly.

 _Besides, he's going to be mine._ she thought.


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Note: My apologies for the delay in updating a new chapter. First, I was suffering from a pretty wicked cold for several days and didn't feel like writing. Then when I was up to writing, I found I was suffering a bit of writer's block the other day when trying to write this chapter, and to take my mind off it, I performed an exercise of figuring out which actors/actresses I would have portray my characters in this story. Believe it or not, this helped me get passed my writer's block. I think it also helps give a mental image of what they all would look like, in rough terms. So here's my list. Characters with an '*' by them have not been introduced…yet. Any characters not listed below means they are portrayed by the same people who played them in the series/movie._

 _BTW, i'm giving bonus points to whomever can recognize the nod to the Tom Clancy universe in this chapter. Here's a hint: it has nothing to do with any of the characters of Team Intersect._

 _Cannon characters from Chuck portrayed by different actors/actresses_

 _Alexandra Forest – Summer Glau_

 _Cannon characters from Tom Clancy Jack Ryanverse but never seen in movies_

 _Patrick O'Day - Timothy Olyphant_

 _Andrea Price – A.J. Cook_

 _Ed Foley – Peter Gallagher_

 _Mary Pat Foley – Kari Matchett_

 _Original Characters_

 _Stanley Madsen – Samuel L. Jackson_

 _Frank Parker – Shemar Moore_

 _Jason Burton – Lucas Black_

 _Samantha Ness – Ronda Rousey_

 _Jennifer O'Connor – Rachel Nichols_

 _Elizabeth Michaels – Tamer Tunie*_

 _Lacey Pearce – Alexandra Breckenridge*_

 _Linda Munro – Nathalie Emmanuel*_

 **Team Intersect Barracks**

 **Secure Area**

 **Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity (aka The Point)**

 **Outside Hertford, North Carolina**

 **May 31, 2006**

"Porn?!" Alexandra Forrest exclaimed. "Seriously?!" The members of 'Team Intersect' as they had decided to call themselves, were sitting in the common area of the barracks that they had occupied since arriving at The Point three days earlier. Casey had immediately taken charge; setting up a training schedule that started at 0500 every day and continued until 1830. They would work on physical conditioning, unarmed combat, weapons training, and instruct each other in law enforcement, military, and intelligence skills and protocols. Every night, after training, they would gather in the common area to talk and get to know each other better.

"Yep." Jack said, grinning. "It was the damnedest thing I'd ever read; my Sergeant said the same thing. Hell, the regimental EOD team couldn't believe it either. And then Chuck tries to pass it off as though nothing happened."

"What the heck possessed you to try that?" Patrick O'Day asked Chuck in disbelief.

"Hey, I'm a nerd, remember? As soon as I saw the laptop and the wireless router, I figured it was worth a shot." Chuck said. "Besides, it's not like we had much of a choice. We would have been lucky to evacuate ourselves from the building, never mind get out of range of the bomb or be able to evacuate the civilians from the area."

The group got silent at Chuck's words. Despite their varied backgrounds, jobs, and agencies, it was the common thread that joined all good soldiers and law enforcement officers together: the desire to protect the innocent against the all too real monsters that existed in the world.

"Alright, enough of the serious stuff." Carina said, grinning. "Maybe Sarah and I should tell you guys about the CAT squad."

"CAT squad?" Andrea Price questioned.

"Stood for Clandestine Attack Team." Sarah said. "There were four of us: myself, Carina, Zondra Rizzo, and another agent named Amy; we never knew her last name."

"Wait, so you're saying this was an all female unit with the acronym CAT?" Samantha Ness asked, incredulously. "Who came up with that, some frat boy?" Laughter rang out among the group.

 **Team Intersect Barracks**

 **Secure Area**

 **Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity (aka The Point)**

 **Outside Hertford, North Carolina**

 **June 28, 2006**

"This is the Intersect? Seems kinda disappointing." Chuck said, looking at the laptop computer and pair of dark sunglasses sitting on the table in front of him. Around him the rest of the team nodded in agreement.

"Not quite, Chuck." Dr. Michaels said from her seat across from him. "The actual Intersect and upload interface takes up an entire room in our lab. If or when we do a complete upload of the database into you, that's how we'll do it. This laptop and glasses are something we came up with to do smaller uploads."

"Like the test upload we're going to do today." Dr. Depak said from his position next to Dr. Michaels.

"You ready, Chuck?" Casey asked.

"Yeah." Chuck said, looking to his right, where Sarah was sitting. She reached out and held his hand. Chuck smiled; over the last several weeks he and Sarah had slowly begun to get close, first as teammates and now as friends. Given the intensity of their training, there hadn't yet been an opportunity for any more, but by unspoken agreement both knew that once training was over and they had some down time, that would change. He also glanced at the rest of his teammates. Being a Marine, Chuck was used to forming close bonds with others, especially under fire; but if he was honest with himself, this was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. It amazed him how after only four weeks the team had banded together almost like family. "Let's get this show on the road."

Dr. Michaels got up and placed the glasses onto his head. Then she connected a cable from the glasses to the laptop. She then walked back over to the laptop and sat down. She hit a couple of keys. Immediately hundreds of images began flashing in the glasses Chuck was wearing. This continued for about fifteen minutes before stopping. Once the images stopped, Chuck sagged in his chair, unconscious.

"Is that normal?" Jack asked concerned. Sarah and Casey had picked Chuck up and moved him to a couch, checking his pulse.

"Yes." Dr. Depak said. "Although the brain recognizes and takes in the information instantaneously, it still needs time to sort out the information in order to access it. The length of time he'll remain unconscious depends on the amount of information in the upload. In this test case, he should wake up anywhere from thirty to sixty minutes from now."

"If we do a full upload, chances are he'll be out a few hours." Dr. Michaels said.

"How soon do we know if it worked or if there's any side effects?" Jack asked.

"We should know if it worked within minutes of him waking up." Dr. Michaels answered. "We'll show him a series of images and have him listen to a series of audio cues related to the files that were in the upload. That should stimulate the brain to sort through the data and allow him to repeat the information. As far as side effects, studying the records of the previous attempts, especially Agent Larkin, we have a pretty good idea of what to look for. He'll probably have a headache for a short time after the upload and the first couple of initial flashes. Once his brain and body adjust to it, those should subside. Going back through the records, the first indications of a problem with Agent Larkin occurred within days of the download. It started as severe migraines, sleeplessness, and mood swings, followed by unreliable flashes of data."

"So as long as Chuck doesn't exhibit any headaches beyond the first few days, and none of the other symptoms, he should be ok." Dr. Depak said. "But we'll keep doing periodic checks to be sure."

 **Forty-Five Minutes Later…**

"Ugggh." Chuck moaned as he opened his eyes. "Did anyone get the number of AT-AT that walked over my head?"

"AT-AT?" Sarah asked as she helped Chuck sit up.

"It's from Star Wars." Dr. Depak said. "AT-ATs are four-legged mechanical walker vehicles used by the Galactic Empire -"

"We get the picture." Casey said, interrupting.

"How are you feeling, Chuck?" Sarah asked.

"I could use a couple of aspirin." Chuck responded, shaking his head, trying to clear the cobwebs. Sarah walked over to the sink, poured a glass of water, and returned with it and a bottle of aspirin. Chuck stuck two tablets in his mouth and took a sip of the water, swallowing the tablets. "Thanks Sarah."

"Do you feel up to running a recognition test?" Dr. Michaels asked. At Chuck's nod, she pulled a photograph out of a manila file folder and showed it to him. Chuck briefly went slightly cross-eyed and eyelids fluttered, before he exhaled as though catching his breath.

"Damn." O'Day said. "My kid sister use to have minor seizures when she was younger; that's what it looked like Chuck just had."

"Yes, that seems to be how the 'flash' appears, at least at first. After a while it should get less pronounced." Dr. Michaels said. "Did you recognize the man in the picture, Chuck?"

"Colonel Mikhail Semyonovich Filitov of the Red Army. Former personal aide to the Soviet Minister of Defense." Chuck said. "Also a CIA informant, codenamed Cardinal, responsible for passing high level political, technical, and military intelligence for nearly thirty years. Died of heart disease six months after being extracted out of KGB custody by the CIA."

"Excellent." Dr. Michaels said. She put the picture back in the folder and produced another, showing it to him.

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs, former Gunnery Sergeant and U.S. Marine Corps scout/sniper." Chuck said. "Responsible for the assassination of Mexican drug lord Pedro Hernandez after he killed Gibbs's first wife Shannon and his eight year old daughter Kelly. Currently head of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service's major investigations team."

"Well, it appears that visual cues are working." Michaels said as she put the picture back into the folder. She then produced a digital recorder. "Let's try audio cues." She pressed play and the the group listened to a conversation, in Mandarin, between a man and a woman.

"That's President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China." Chuck said. "The woman is Liu Ming, his seventeen year old mistress. They're discussing their next rendezvous, where Jintao is asking her to quote 'put on a strap-on and ride his ass like the bitch he is' end quote." Snickers rounded the room at Chuck's translation of the conversation.

"It seems like the Intersect is working properly; both visual and audio cues elicited the proper response and the Mandarin language module we included was able to be accessed and properly used to translate the conversation." Dr. Depak said. "How do you feel? Is the headache any worse?"

"No, it's about the same as when I woke up." Chuck answered.

"That's a good sign." Michaels said. "Now we're going to verify that the removal process still works." She led Chuck over to the table again and after he sat down placed the glasses onto his face. After pressing a few more keys, Chuck went rigid for fifteen more minutes before slumping into his seat again, although this time he didn't lose consciousness.

"Damn that made my headache worse." Chuck complained.

"I'm sorry, Chuck." Michaels said, "I should have warned you. Between the upload, three flashes and then the removal, it was likely that the headache would get worse. Take a couple more aspirin. I'd suggest you go ahead and get some shut-eye early today. Your body will probably need at least 8-9 hours of sleep to shake off the effects."

"I'll help you to your room, Chuck." Sarah said, taking him by the arm and helping him up.

"Really, Walker? You think Chuckles is actually in any condition to be alone with you in his room right now?" Carina teased. The rest of the room laughed as Sarah flipped Carina the middle finger and led Chuck out of the common area.

 **Team Intersect Headquarters**

 **MCB Quantico**

 **Office of Thomas Harper**

 **During Secure Video Conference**

"What's the latest on the Intersect, Mr. Harper?" Director of Homeland Security William MacGregor asked. He, along with Attorney General Melissa Jones, CIA Director Foley, NSA Director General Diane Beckman, and DNI George Makin were on the screen in front of Harper.

"Our first round of testing today was successful. Lieutenant Bartowski was able to successfully upload the test data, and respond to both visual and audio cues. And Dr. Michaels was able to then extract the data back out of the Lieutenant's head." Harper answered.

"And side effects?" Director Foley asked.

"Just what was expected. He had a nasty headache but nothing serious. According to the good Dr., a couple of aspirins and a good night's sleep is all he'll need to be back to normal." Harper said. "We'll wait a couple days to be sure, then try a larger upload."

"And the team as a whole?" Attorney General Jones asked.

"According to Major Casey's reports, everything is going well. The team has bonded pretty quickly and have accomplished most of the training tasks we set out for them."

"Well, that's all well and good." General Beckman said, "but as nice as it is that they're getting along, I want to go on record, once again with my objections over the size of this team, and the proposed method of controlling the asset. This goes against every protocol -"

"Dammit Diane, we've been over this!" Director Foley interrupted. "Lieutenant Bartowski is NOT an asset. He's a decorated Marine who has volunteered for this assignment! This is not a criminal or foreign national that we've caught working in some nefarious plot that we've turned!"

"Furthermore, General, need I remind you've already voiced your objections, several times, to us and the President." DNI Makin said. "And he's rejected those objections. The issue is settled. Now either get behind the program, or turn in your resignation!" Beckman let out a sigh; she was beaten and she knew it.

"Of course, you're all right. My apologies." she said.

 **Secret Fulcrum Base**

 **Somewhere in New Mexico**

 **Three Days Later**

"Good morning, Agent Larkin." the Fulcrum director said. "Please have a seat." Bryce walked over to the desk and sat down, staring at the man across from him.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" he asked.

"Yes. You've impressed your Fulcrum trainers, Agent Larkin. I understand you may be feeling a little annoyed about having to go through Fulcrum training given your skills and record, but it is policy, I'm afraid." he said. "But now that it is all over, it's time to put your talents to use."

"How?" Bryce asked in a huffing manner. It was true, he was upset at having to go through Fulcrum training like he was a wet-behind-the-ears recruit.

"Project Omaha." the director said. "Ever since the US intelligence community scrapped the program, Fulcrum has been investigating the possibility of building our own. We've even managed to secure the defection of Dr. Jonas Zarnow, one of the original scientists working on the project. He's been able to reproduce a lot of his original work; however, in order to proceed any further, he needs certain files that are part of the encoding program. If he gets them, he thinks he can make modifications that will fix the issues with the original Intersect program."

"Wasn't everything destroyed when the government scrapped the program?" Bryce asked skeptically, even though inside he was excited. If this Dr. Zarnow could get it working, maybe Bryce could get himself chosen for the Fulcrum Intersect. _Then I can reek my revenge on those idiots at the CIA. And Sarah._ he thought.

"That's what we believed." the Director said. "But several of our sources within the NSA and the Department of Homeland Security have reported rumors of late that the government may be restarting program. We don't know if this is true, but we do know that General Diane Beckman stopped the destruction of the Intersect equipment and files related to Omaha. No doubt she hoped that one day she could restart the program. According to our sources, it's being held in a secure NSA facility outside of DC."

"So what's the mission? Break in?" Bryce asked.

"No Agent Larkin; we here at Fulcrum don't like launching operations against targets with little to no intelligence." the Director said, taking a swipe at Bryce and his reputation. "Until we have proof, we're not going to risk it."

"Then what do you want me to do?" Bryce asked.

"Well, it's obvious isn't it, Agent Larkin." the Director replied. "We need proof; and there's one person who we know for sure probably knows that truth. We want you to take a team and kidnapped General Diane Beckman. Bring her to the Fulcrum facility in Richmond and get her to talk."

"You can count on me, Director." Bryce said.

"Good. But let me make one thing clear; there are to be no half-assed measures here. I expect this operation to be planned thoroughly. None of the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants nonsense you're famous for, Larkin. You have six weeks to plan the operation and rehearse. By the middle of August, I expect you to carry it out."

 **Team Intersect Barracks**

 **Secure Area**

 **Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity (aka The Point)**

 **Outside Hertford, North Carolina**

 **July 8, 2006**

"Alright team, listen up." Harper said via secure video conference. All the members of the team, minus Major Casey and Jack, were gathered in the Common Area. "According to Major Casey, you're cross-training has come along nicely and the team is operating like a well-oiled machine. In addition, Dr. Michaels reports that based on the preliminary tests, it looks like all is good to do a full upload of the Intersected when you return to Quantico. Good work team."

"Thank you sir." multiple voices said.

"A transport will land at the airfield tomorrow morning to bring you back. Now, one last thing. 2nd Lieutenant Bartowski, atten-shun!" Harper said. Chuck shot to attention, wondering what was going on. A moment later, Casey walked into the Common Area, dressed in the Dress Blue uniform of the Marines. He stopped just short of Chuck.

"Second Lieutenant Bartowski, for heroism under fire while serving with the Marine Raider Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Echo Company in operations on or about February 4, 2005 in Tikrit, Iraq, it gives me great pleasure to inform you that you have been awarded the Silver Star for gallantry against in actions against an enemy of the United States." Casey intoned, producing a box from his pocket and opening it. He pulled out the medal and pinned it to Chuck's shirt. "Furthermore, it also gives me great pleasure to inform you that per direction of the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of Defense, and the President of the United States, you are hereby promoted from to the rank of Captain, United States Marine Corps, effective this date." Casey produced another box, opened it and handed Chuck the silver "rail-road tracks" insignia of a Captain. He then saluted him. Chuck immediately returned the salute, as the rest of the team applauded.

"Alright, at ease everyone." Harper said. "Congratulations Chuck, you deserve it. Additionally, Major Casey has requested, and I've approved that request, that you be given the role of Executive Officer for the Operations Team. Now, you all have an early flight, but according to tradition, whenever an officer is promoted, there has to be a wetting down. Since you can't very well go out in public at the moment, I've decided to bring the Mountain to Mohammed, so to speak." At that the door opened and Jack stepped in, wheeling a keg on a cart. "Try to not over due it. Harper out."

 **Four hours later…**

"Well, I think I'm going to call it a night." Casey said, standing up from his chair. The rest of the team, minus himself, Chuck and Sarah, had gone off to bed an hour earlier. "Once again, congratulations Chuck. You deserve it." With that he walked off towards the wing of the building where the male rooms were.

"And then there was two." Sarah said, grinning.

"Yeah, we should probably get some sleep too." Chuck said, but made no move to stand up. He and Sarah sat quietly, staring at one another for several minutes in silence.

"Chuck-"

"Sarah-"

Both giggled as they each tried to talk at the same time.

"I'm sorry, go ahead." Chuck said.

"No, you go." Sarah said. Chuck took a deep breathe and then released it.

"Sarah, I was wondering, when we get back to Quantico, if we get some down time, would you be interested in going out to dinner with me?" he asked.

"You mean like a date?" Sarah asked, hoping she was interpreting correctly.

"Yeah." Chuck said. Sarah stood up and walked over to Chuck, leaning over him and pressing her lips to his. A moment later she pulled back.

"There's nothing more I'd like." Sarah said as she walked towards the female wing of the barracks.

"Oh, boy." Chuck said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Team Intersect Headquarters**

 **AKA Castle**

 **MCB Quantico**

 **Quantico, VA**

 **Intersect Lab**

 **July 9, 2006**

"Alright Chuck, because of the size of the upload we're going do this time around, we're going to have to go about this a little differently." Dr Michaels said. "I want you to lay down on the bed. We've already got it set up so you'll be in a sitting position to see the monitors. This way when you pass out, you'll already be laying down. I'm not sure how long you'll be out, but either myself or Dr. Mueller myself will be here to monitor your condition while you're out."

Chuck glanced over at Jack's fiancé. That had been a surprise; unbeknownst to Jack (or the rest of the team), Harper had decided that a second Doctor should be added to the support staff. Since Cathy Mueller had graduated from medical school and completed her residency with top marks, had been working as a trauma specialist in a DC hospital, and most importantly had already been vetted because of her personal relationship to Jack, Harper had decided that she was a natural choice.

Chuck walked over to the bed and sat down. Dr. Michaels then attached several sensors to him to monitor his vitals and brain activity. Then her, Cathy, and Dr. Depak put dark glasses on. Dr. Michaels nodded to Dr. Depak who then initiated the Intersect.

Thousands upon thousands of images began flashing by on the screens in front of Chuck, who stared at the monitors as though in a trance. Dr. Michaels checked the read outs on the computer monitoring Chuck's vitals and brain activity. She continued to monitor things for the next 6 hours, before the images stopped flashing and the Intersect screens went dark. Chuck slumped back into the bed, unconscious. Cathy used the bed's controls to lower him into a lying position with his he just slightly elevated.

"Let's get an IV in him to make sure he stays hydrated and give him something to head off the migraine he's going to have." Dr. Michaels said, looking at Cathy. "You take the first shift monitoring him and I'll relieve you in 8 hours."

 **Office of Thomas Harper**

 **A few minutes later**

"How'd it go?" Harper asked as she walked into his office.

"The upload appeared to be successful. He's unconscious right now, will be for some time, probably at least 12 hours, maybe more." Dr. Michaels said. "I left Dr. Mueller to monitor him. I'll relieve her in 8 hours and we'll keep trading shifts so one of us will be here until he wakes up and we're sure there are no other immediate side effects."

"Any restrictions on visitors? I know his teammates will probably want to check in on him." Harper said.

"Yeah, especially Sarah." Dr. Michaels said, chuckling slightly. "But no, no restrictions." Harper chuckled as well; it had become well known among the project members that Sarah and Chuck had begun to develop a special relationship, though that relationship had yet to move officially into the "romantic" phase. If what Casey and Jack had told him about the last night the team was in trading was true, he didn't think it would be long, however.

 **Intersect Lab**

 **Later that day**

"How's he doing?" Sarah asked Cathy _._ It had been seven hours since Chuck's upload and he was still unconscious.

"His vitals are good Sarah. We're giving him IV fluids and pain relievers, so hopefully when he wakes up the headache won't be too bad." Cathy responded.

"How much longer?" Sarah asked.

"We're not 100% sure, but we think he'll be out another 4-6 hours." Cathy replied.

"Is it ok if I wait with him?" Sarah asked. Cathy nodded, and gave her a small smile.

"Sure. The chair is a recliner. It may be a while, so I'll bring you a blanket and pillow." Cathy said.

 **Six Hours later...**

Chuck groaned slightly as his eyes slowly opened. The room was fairly dark, with only a small light near the door on and the light and sounds of his IV and vitals monitor disturbing the darkness. He felt a hand covering his right hand and turned to look. A smile came to his face. Sarah had moved the recliner next to his bed and was curled up in it, sleeping. Her left hand was reaching over and grasping his hand.

 _God she's beautiful._ He thought, flushing slightly. _I can't wait until I'm out of this damn lab and we can go on that date._ Of course based on their already deep friendship, the subtle flirting and hints exchanged, and the kiss she had given him last night, it was likely that their date (and any future ones) were more in the way of a nod to formality and propriety. Both of their backgrounds (her experience with her failed relationship with Bryce, and his with Jill - not too mention his upbringing by his sister and his natural sense of honor) demanded that while they knew they were headed towards something very deep, very passionate, and probably long term, that they would at least try to take it reasonably slow.

A noise at the door brought Chuck out of his musings. He saw Dr. Michaels walk in.

"How are you feeling?" Dr. Michaels asked, quietly.

"Sore from being in this bed. Plus a small headache, but it's not too bad." Chuck answered. "How long was I out?" Dr. Michaels took a quick look at her watch.

"About 13 hours." She said. "Your vitals look good, if it wasn't the already 2200 hours I'd probably be willing to discharge you after a short examination and test. I think the best idea is to keep you here until tomorrow morning."

"Is there anyone around that can take Sarah home?" Chuck asked.

"Oh no, I'm wouldn't dream of waking her up and trying to send her home. Harper, Casey, and Carina tried earlier. Let's just say a mama grizzly bear protecting her young is less scary." Dr. Michaels said grinning. "Besides you both look comfortable. I say enjoy it."

Chuck nodded and closed his eyes. Within a few minutes he fell back to sleep.

 **Blue Ridge Apartment Complex**

 **Outside of Stafford, Va**

 **20 minutes from MCB Quantico**

 **Sunday, July 10, 2006**

"We're there, Chuck." Sarah said from the driver's side of her Porsche 911, breaking Chuck out of his thoughts. He had been alternating between amazement at the results of that morning's Intersect recall tests and thinking about his upcoming date with Sarah later that night.

Chuck has been impressed with the intel and language recall tests they had performed at The Point during their team training/integration time. But the tests run this morning dwarfed those.

 _Begin Flashback_

"Okay Chuck, the intel recall seems to still check out okay. Now lets try some skill recall." Dr. Michaels said. The entire team was assembled in the workout portion of the Team Intersect facility. She motioned to Agent Forrest, who came forward carrying two Samurai swords. She handed one to Chuck, then stepped back into the ready position. Chuck closed his eyes for a moment while the steps for Samurai sword fighting flashed through his mind.

"Ready." he said. A moment later, Agent Forrest attacked. Immediately, Chuck began to parry her attack, almost as if Intersect had taken control of his body. The two combatants fought for fifteen minutes, with neither gaining the upper hand, until finally Chuck performed a blazing combination of moves that left Forrest disarmed and at the point of Chuck's swords.

"Damn." Forrest whispered. She had been studying Samurai sword fighting since she was a teenager and to her knowledge Chuck had never even picked one up before. Around them, the rest of the team watched in shock as well.

 _End Flashback_

There were several more tests like that, both in obscure fighting styles and other skills he hadn't possessed before. Afterwards, Sarah had volunteered to take him back to his apartment, and before they had gotten off the base, they had made plans to go on their first date later that night. It was for those reasons that Chuck had completely missed the fact that they had not taken the route to his apartment in Arlington, and instead were in front of a small, well kept but dated apartment complex in Stafford.

"Uh, Sarah why are we here?" Chuck asked confused. Sarah smiled, she had asked Harper to allow her to break this news to Chuck.

"Chuck, with the Intersect in your head, we're going to need to increase your security. As nice as your apartment was, it really wasn't in a conducive location." Sarah said. "Harper decided the best thing would be to move you to another apartment in a complex closer to the base and where there were additional apartments vacant that we could move two or three additional team members into for added protection."

"Okay." Chuck said. "That makes sense I guess, but here? Look at it; it's horribly outdated."

"Trust me Chuck; it's not that bad. Yes the complex is dated; but it was mostly empty when the government approached the owner about buying. So it was pretty easy to get the few tenets out. They spent the last three months refurbishing the inside; I'm told by Harper that on the inside it will compete with any modern apartment complex. Not to mention all the security upgrades: cameras, sensors, bullet proof glass, etc." Sarah said.

"Alright, if you say so. Let's see it." Chuck said. The two exited Sarah's car and walked into the courtyard. Sarah led Chuck to a door in the middle of the row of apartments. She entered a code into the electronic keypad lock on the door, then looked at the security camera just above it. A moment later the door clicked open.

"The cameras on all the doors are hooked into a computer system running facial recognition software; when the system is turned on, only a combination of the approved security code and authorized face will allow the door to open." Sarah said as they stepped into the apartment. Chuck's eyes widened slightly as he got his first look inside the apartment. True to her word, the inside of the apartment looked nothing like the outdated appearance on the outside. It reminded him of the apartment he and his sister had lived in grown up after their parents moved it. It was very modern, spacious, and decorated in what could only be described as a warm but hip style.

"There's two bedrooms." Sarah said. "We figured that there would be the possibility of your sister and soon to be brother-in-law visiting on occasion." She walked over to the side table by the door and picked up a small book. "This goes into all the detail on the security system and other features in the house. All of which are disguised in such a way that they won't notice when they're here."

"Well, I have to say this is much better that I thought it would be." Chuck said, then a thought hit him. "So who from the team gets stuck with babysitting duty?"

"Well, the original complex had twelve units. Harper said that six of them, including yours, have been refurbished into secure living spaces. One or two more have be turned into auxiliary operations centers for use in emergencies. The rest are empty. So Harper figured that since the plan is to operate two go teams, that you're team would all reside here." she said.

"Ok." Chuck said. "But that still doesn't answer my question. Harper never got around to telling us…" Chuck stopped as he saw Sarah grinning. "Wait a minute. You know, don't you?"

"Yep." Sarah said.

"Well don't keep me in suspense. How are we dividing the team up?" Chuck asked.

"Well, Agents O'Day, Price, Burton, and Ness will be on your team." Sarah said.

"That's only four." Chuck said. "With me, that's fifth. Who's the sixth?" Sarah's smile widened slightly.

"Me." she said.

 **Team Intersect Headquarters**

 **AKA Castle**

 **MCB Quantico**

 **Quantico, Va**

 **Sunday, July 10, 2006**

"I still don't see why I couldn't be on Chuck's team." Carina whined. She was seated at a conference table with Casey, Lt. Parker, Captain O'Connor, and Agents Forrest and Ryan. Casey had just announced the plan to split the team into 2 "go" teams; each team would spend 24 hours on duty and 24 hours off. In extreme emergencies, both teams could be put on duty. He had also explained who would make up the teams; the members of Chuck's team had been informed earlier.

"Look Miller, Harper figured this was the best way to divide things up." Casey said exasperatedly. "Face it; you're too much of a loose cannon to have on Chuck's team; he needs people he can rely on. Not to mention his relationship with Sarah means that having you around would be like pouring gasoline on fire."

"He's right Carina." Jack jumped in. "You're a hell of an agent, but the last thing we need is you and Sarah living next to Chuck fighting over him."

"Fine." Carina said, still pouting slightly. "You're right. But I still feel like the fat kid that got picked last in gym class."

"Don't be ridiculous." Casey said. "You're here on the project because you're one of the best. Harper had to split us up into two groups, deal with it. We can't risk having the whole damn team living in one location."

"Besides, there's a certain logic to how we got divided up." Parker said. "Each team is a mix of intelligence, military, and law enforcement. Which means no matter which team is on duty, it'll have the requisite personnel and skills to deal with whatever comes up."

"Exactly." Casey said. "So here's the plan. The on duty team will spend their time here at headquarters. We've got six small rooms set up with a cot and basic necessities to be used while they're here. We're the first team up on rotation, starting tomorrow morning. So go home, get some rest, and report back here tomorrow at 0700."

 **Manetti Familia Restaurante**

 **Arlington, VA**

 **Sunday, July 10, 2006**

"Ah, Charles! So good to see you again." Alfonso, the owner said when he saw Chuck and Sarah walk into the restaurant. The team had spent the afternoon moving into their new apartments and getting familiar with the security systems. At about 6 o'clock Chuck and Sarah had excused themselves to get ready for their date. Chuck had been breathless when he had seen Sarah in the red dress she was wearing. They took Chuck's Chevy Camaro Z1 that he had bought after graduating OCS to Arlington and had just arrived at the restaurant.

"Good to see you too, Alfonso." Chuck said. Alfonso Manetti was a sixty year old Italian-American whose son Dominic had gone through boot camp with Chuck and had served with him in Afghanistan. When Dominic had heard that Chuck was going to OCS, he had insisted the Chuck stop by his family's restaurant before starting gate class. Upon learning of Chuck's identity on that first visit, Alfonso had gone out of his way to treat his son's comrade as a VIP. Chuck had been back several times since, always alone. On his last visit, Alfonso had chided him for never bringing a date.

"And who, may I ask is this angelic vision of loveliness?" Alfonso asked, smiling.

"This is Sarah." Chuck said. "My date." Alfonso's smile widened as he took Sarah's hand and raised it to his lips, kissing it.

"A pleasure, Sarah. And might I add, Charles, it's about time." He said as he let go of Sarah's hand and motioned the two of them into the dining room.

The restaurant's main diminish area was small, with perhaps no more than a dozen or so tables, mostly of 2 to 4 place variety. It was decorated in a Tuscan theme with soft lighting and music playing in the background. There were 3 or 4 other couples already seated and in various stages of their meal. Alfonso led the pair to a table in the back corner of the room. Chuck pulled a chair out for Sarah, and then sat down after she had taken a seat. A few moments later their waitress came over to take their drink orders.

"I'll have a glass of the house red." Sarah said.

"Water for me." Chuck said. "After all, I'm driving." The waitress nodded and walked off.

"So you've been here before?" Sarah asked, curious as to the familiarity the owner had shown Chuck.

"Yeah. Alfonso's son and I went to boot camp together." Chuck said. "We were friendly, then went our separate ways. He became a supply specialist; I went infantry. We got assigned to the same unit in Afghanistan. He was always going on about his family's restaurant. We kept in touch after Afghanistan. When he heard I had been accepted to OCS he made me promise to look the place up. When Alfonso found out who I was, it was like he adopted me. Wouldn't even let me pay for my meal that first time. I've been back a couple of time since. He's a good guy, and the food is to die for." Sarah smiled listening to Chuck talk about his fellow Marine and his family.

A moment later the waitress brought their drinks and asked if they were ready to order. Sheepishly, Chuck and Sarah realized that they had yet to look at their menus and asked for a few more minutes.

"So Chuck, since you've been here before, what do you recommend?" Sarah asked as she scanned the menu.

"Depends on what you're in the mood for. Do you want something hearty or light?" Chuck asked. Sarah thought for a moment.

"Well, that depends on where we're going next?" Sarah asked. Chuck had only said that he had additional plans after dinner.

"I was thinking we'd go dancing." Chuck said, silently thanking Ellie for forcing him to take dance lessons when he was younger. "There's a club not far from here I've been to a few times. Nothing fancy but it's also not packed to the gills with college kids." Sarah quirked an eyebrow at this. Somehow, Chuck didn't strike her as the type that was a dancer, but apparently looks could be deceiving.

"Sounds like I'll need my energy." Sarah said. "How about something in the middle?"

"Well, then I'd go with with their Grilled Salmon with Preserved Lemon." Chuck said. "It comes with a Caprese salad on the side."

Just then the waitress came back and took their orders. Sarah went with Chuck's recommendation while he ordered the Chicken Scarpariello.

As they waited for their meal, they talked about various subjects. Because of the friendship that had developed between the two, reinforced by having spent almost every day for the last three months together in training and their already deep feelings, there was none of the typical "first date" awkwardness. To be sure, some of the conversations were difficult, but more because of the feelings those subjects evoked then any concern about discussing them with the other person. Chuck told Sarah the details around his parents leaving him and Ellie and the two siblings raising themselves. Sarah of course knew the basic facts already, having read his file shortly after his unit had rescued her and Bryce. But those files had been pretty sanitary and impersonal. She couldn't help but feel both a little sad at Chuck and his sister's trials in life and impressed at the same time. Despite everything, the two Bartowski siblings had grown up to be rather well-adjusted and incredible people in Sarah's mind.

In return, Sarah talked more about her own childhood and experiences with her con man father and her time in the CIA (albeit quietly and carefully, considering they were in public) before Iraq. Like Sarah, Chuck found himself experiencing sadness and being impressed by what Sarah had overcome at such a young age, and her dedication to her job.

 **Club 500**

 **Arlington, Va**

 **Later that night**

After an enjoyable dinner, both in terms of the quality of the meal and the quality of the company, Chuck and Sarah had walked arm-in-arm the two blocks from the restaurant to the nightclub Chuck had mentioned. Unlike the restaurant, the nightclub was anything but quiet. A live local band was playing that night, and judging by the crowd present, they were a popular one.

After finding a seat at a table on the periphery of the dance floor, and ordering some drinks (a mojito in Sarah's case and another water in Chuck's), they sat for about fifteen minutes just listening as the band played. They seemed to be playing an eclectic mixture of music, covering several genres. Finally the band leader announced that they would be slowing things down and began playing a slow song. Chuck stood up and extended his hand to Sarah.

"May I have this dance?" he asked. Sarah smiled and nodded, standing up. They walked out onto the dance floor and Chuck took her into his arms and the two began to dance.

 **Two Hours Later...**

"You're a really good dancer, Chuck" Sarah commented as the two walked from the nightclub towards the parking garage where they had parked. "Did you take lessons or was that the Intersect?"

"No Intersect." Chuck said. "Ellie's responsible for my dance skills. When I was in middle school she decide I needed to learn. Turns out I actually enjoyed it so I kept the lessons up all through high school. Turned out to be a pretty good survival skill to have."

"Really? How so?" Sarah asked, intrigued.

"Well, believe it or not, I was a pretty big nerd growing up." Chuck said. "Still am as a matter of fact. I'm just more rounded then I was back then. Anyway, as you know, nerds usually don't have the most socially uplifting experiences in high school. Luckily for me, one or two of the girls in my class went to the same dance studio I did. Word got around pretty quick that I had game, at least when it came to dancing. So while there wasn't exactly a line of girls lining up to date me, there were plenty that would seek me out at dances. Hell even the captain of our cheerleading squad would drag me into the dance floor. So, while I still got targeted for being a nerd, the harassment was always pretty restrained compared to what others got. Those girls seemed to be afraid of losing a decent dance partner if they didn't reign in the jocks and other popular guys."

They had just entered the parking garage when the flash hit him. There had been two men on the ground level standing by two nondescript cars. One was lifting a large case out of one car and placing it into another. As he caught sight of the face, the Intersect flashed.

 _A humming bird_

 _A waterfall_

 _A painting_

 _A series of men being killed_

 _A file labeled La Ciudad_

 _Henrich Altemier,German smuggler_

Sarah felt Chuck tense up and looked at him. Seeing the visual indication of the flash she leaned her head into his shoulder and whispered, "What's up, Chuck?"

"Are you armed?" Chuck whispered. "The two guys back there; one of them is Henrich Altemier. He specializes in smuggling weapons. According to the Intersect he's the latest in a chain of men tied to a painting that originated in Iran. All the others are dead. Even more interesting is the fact that he seems to an arms dealer called La Ciudad."

"Yes, I have my backup gun and my knives." Sarah answered. "What the hell would a weapons smuggler, not to mention La Ciudad, want with a painting?"

"Good. I've got my sidearm as well. As for the painting, I'm not sure." Chuck said. "But I know one thing: anything being smuggled into the US from Iran can't be good. We better check it out."

Both agents drew their sidearms and turned back. As they did so, they saw one of the men raise a silenced gun and fire at the other man twice. Immediately they took off running towards the man.

 **Smuggler's POV**

Henrich got out of his car when the driver of the car parked next to him did. He walked around the back of the car and approached his contact.

"Mr. White?" he asked, using the alias he had been instructed to use.

"Yes, Mr. Green." his contact responded, using the alias assigned to Henrich. "Do you have the package?"

"Yes." Henrich responded. "Do you have my money?" Mr. White nodded, turned to his trunk and opened it. He took a small black bag out of it and threw it at Henrich's feet. Henrich picked it up and opened the the bag. Several stacks of $100 dollar bills were visible. Nodding, he put the back down and turned to his own trunk. As he did so he noticed a young couple enter the garage about 100 feet away. He watch them for a second, then turned back to his trunk. He opened it and lifted a large container out of it, and turned, carrying it to his contact's car. He placed it in the trunk and then straighten.

"Thank you." Mr. White said, something in his voice sending alarm through Henrich. He turned to see Mr. White holding a gun with a silencer.

"No-" started to say, reach for his own gun before Mr. White pulled the trigger twice, hitting him in the heart. He slumped to the ground, dead. Mr. White grabbed the bag of money and closed the trunk. As he did so he heard footsteps running towards him.

"FREEZE! FEDERAL AGENTS!" a voice shouted. He recognized the young couple from a few minutes earlier come running towards him, guns drawn. He fired several shots at them, causing them to take cover behind a pillar. He then opened the driver side door of his car and jumped. In a flash he had the ignition started and threw it in reverse, then into drive and sped off towards the exit.

When they heard the car start, Sarah and Chuck came out from behind the column, firing at the car, though it kept moving, speed out of the garage.

"Dammit!" Sarah shouted. "Back to the car, Chuck!" They ran back to Chuck's car and jumped in. A moment later they were speeding out of the garage. As the car accelerated and Chuck weaved in and out of traffic, Sarah scanned for the car.

"There!" she shouted as she spotted the car in front of them. "Get closer to him!" She then opened the glove box.

"What are you doing?" Chuck asked he saw her pull a small tablet like device out of it. He had increased his speed and was closing on the car. When they were three or four car lengths behind him, he saw an arm com out of the driver's window. A second later shots hit his windshield, but left little damage.

"What the hell?!" Chuck exclaimed, startled.

"Bullet-proof glass." Sarah said, nonchalantly as she worked on the tablet. "Harper had all the teams' cars upgraded. Full protection package, along with a few other goodies." Her fingers danced on the tablet. A moment later, Chuck heard a small buzzing sound and a second later he saw something fire out from the front of his car. He could see something impact the car with no effect. Before he could comment, a car ran a red light and cut in front of them. Chuck slammed on the brakes, sending car into a semi-controlled spin. Chuck got it under control and turned back in the direction of the suspect car they had been following. It was too late. The care had disappeared.

"Damn." he shouted as he hit the steering wheel with his fist. "He got away!"

"Not quite." Sarah said, grinning. "I didn't miss before; I tagged his car with a tracker." She opened a new window and glanced at it. "Damn. We can only track up to a short distance with the tablet. We'll have to call HQ and have them track him from there."


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's Note: thanks once again for all the reviews. To address two comments I received, I thought briefly of placing Carina on Chuck's team, rather than Casey's, but decided that I have enough other subplots planned in this story that I didn't want the hassle of trying to work that mess into things. Not that there won't be moments of tension; I just didn't want it to become a major plot issue. Besides, I freely admit to being a typical male and the only way I'd consider putting those three together on a team would probably be in a threesome type of relationship. (I may decide to pursue a separate story in this vain at some point). As for Casey not being on Chuck's team, I had originally planned that but once I made the decision to make Casey the leader of Ops portion of the team, and Chuck his XO, as well as divide the Ops group into two teams, it made more sense to keep Casey as the leader of the other team. Precedence for this type of division can be found in the structure of US Army Special Forces "A" Teams. When these teams have to break into two teams, the team leader and his xo lead up the two smaller teams._

 **Blue Ridge Apartment Complex**

 **Auxiliary Operations Center**

 **Outside of Stafford, Va**

 **20 minutes from MCB Quantico**

 **Monday, July 11, 2006**

 **0130 Hours**

"Dammit Chuck, I know you're an overachiever but couldn't you have waited until a less ungodly hour to get us started on this job?" Jack joked over the video conference line. The members of Chuck's team were gathered in the Auxiliary Operations Center located in one of the vacant apartments in the complex. On a large video screen, the members of Casey's team, along with Harper and Masden, were seated in the main conference room at the Team Headquarters. Laughter rang out from the rest of the team.

"Jeez Jack, three years out of the Corps has turned you into a prima donna." Chuck responded with a grin. More laughter rang out.

"Okay, settle down people." Harper said. Everyone quieted down. "Now, what do we know?"

"Altemier entered the country two days ago on a private flight, under the name Hans Geoffery. According to Customs records, he had one suitcase with the normal travel accoutrements, along with a painting that he said he was transporting on behalf of an Austrian art gallery that was providing it to a Virginia gallery for a special display." Jack said.

"Except both galleries in question know nothing about them." Samantha Ness said.

"Any ID on the shooter?" Masden asked.

"We managed to pull a clean image off the Parking Garage security cameras. We ran it past Chuck; no flash. We're running it against any other databases we can think off. No luck yet." Jack replied.

"And the tracker?" Harper asked.

"It tracked him to a mall near Virginia Beach. Local LEOs found the car abandoned there. No sign of the painting." O'Day said. "Forensics is going over it now."

"Phone records?" Price asked.

"Not yet; we found a phone on his body but the call history had been wiped clean. And it'll be at least a day or two before we can get a warrant to get the records from the cell company." Carina said. Chuck started typing on his laptop.

"Carina, what's the service?" he asked.

"Verizon, Chuck." she responded, "Why?"

"I think I can get us the records." he said, typing furiously. Sarah stood up from her seat and walked behind Chuck.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"Um...the less you guys know the better." Chuck said, nervously.

"Answer the question Chuck." Harper said. "We're covered for any and all violations needed to complete our mission by pre-signed Presidential pardon." Chuck nodded.

"I'm hacking Verizon's system. I should be able to dump the records onto our server." Chuck said.

"How do you know how to do that?" Forrest asked. Chuck looked sheepish.

"Chuck?" Sarah asked softly.

"Anybody ever hear of someone called Piranha?" Chuck asked. Masden's eyes widened.

"Yeah. He was what we call a grey-hat hacker that was active a couple years ago. Piranha was legendary. He managed to hack some of the most secure networks in the world, both government and industry. The odd thing was, he never stole anything, sabotaged anything. Almost like he was doing it just to see if he could. That's why we classified him as grey. Black hats usually are out to cause trouble or steal; white hats are the good guys. Since he wasn't working for us but didn't seem interested in causing trouble, we had to come up with a new term." Masden said. "Then, almost four years ago, he just dropped off the face of the Earth."

"Chuck, what does all this have to do with you? Did you know Piranha? Is that how you know what you're doing?" Sarah asked. Chuck shook his head.

"Not exactly. Piranha stopped hacking because of a series of unfortunate events in his personal life in January of 2001. Specifically, he went into a depression because his supposed best friend had framed him for cheating, gotten him kicked out of school, and stole his girlfriend." Chuck said quietly. Everyone's eyes widened at Chuck's words, and the implication that they held.

"You...You're Piranha?" Casey asked, shocked.

"Yeah. I wasn't always a bad ass Marine." Chuck said. "I was a pretty big Nerd before I joined up; hell, like I told Sarah earlier, I still am."

"I think we need to keep this revelation to ourselves, people. Even though it's been a few years, there are a number elements within the law enforcement community that would love to get their hands on the Piranha." Harper said. The rest of the team nodded. "As far as I remember, you never did any damage, other than getting into the systems, right?"

"Yeah." Chuck said. "It was always more about getting in than taking or doing anything." He then turned back to his computer. Several minutes later, Chuck let out a whoop of victory. "I've got the records. I'm putting them up on both screens."

A moment later, the phone records connected with the phone appeared on both smartboards in each location. A quick look at the records showed several numbers that had been called multiple times.

"Ok Piranha, any of these numbers tickle your spidey-sense?" Price asked. Chuck looked over the list. When he came to two of them, he flashed.

"We may have a problem guys. " Chuck said, typing on the computer. "This first number belongs to an auction house suspected of laundering money and moving smuggled goods. I'll bet even money that's where the painting is headed."

"And the second?" Harper asked. Chuck typed some more and a picture of a late middle-aged man appeared.

"Dr. Michael Lutz. He's a nuclear physicist who was dismissed from Sandia National Labs five years ago. He was suspected of passing secrets to Iran. But they could never prove it. He fell off the radar two years ago." Chuck said. "He's been rumored to have been working with La Ciudad."

"Why would an arms dealer and a nuclear physicist be interested in a painting?" Carina asked.

"Maybe it isn't the painting itself they're interested in." Chuck replied. "Maybe there's something in the frame?"

"Where's this auction house, Chuck?" Jack asked. Chuck grinned.

"Los Angeles. And according to their site, there's an auction coming up on Friday." Chuck said. "Looks like we're headed to my hometown."

 **Blue Ridge Apartment Complex**

 **Chuck's Apartment**

 **Outside of Stafford, Va**

 **20 minutes from MCB Quantico**

 **Wednesday July 13, 2006**

 **0930 Hours**

"So are you excited about getting to see your sister and Devon this weekend?" Sarah asked Chuck after she had drained a bottle of water. The two agents had just finished a five mile run and were stretching and hydrating in Chuck's apartment. Since the first day of their combined training, the team had taken to working out in the morning, something that had continued the last two days as well. Today, however, Sarah had asked Chuck if they could work out alone. She had two reasons for doing so. First, ever since the meeting late Sunday night/early Monday morning when it was decided that Chuck's team would go to Los Angeles and surveill the art auction, Sarah could tell that something was bothering Chuck. She was hoping some time alone together would allow her to get it out of him. The second reason was more selfish; barring the interruption at the end, their date on Sunday had been one of the best nights of her life. Even after all that happened with the arms smuggler and the meeting, it had still ended on high note with Chuck walking her back to her apartment and the two sharing a rather intense kiss. The team had been busy on Monday and Tuesday, so other than lunch and a team dinner, her and Chuck had little chance to interact socially since. She was hoping to get things going again today.

"Yeah. Though you and I both know the likelihood that it will only take one evening at an art auction to wrap this mission up is pretty slim." Chuck said. "Even if we do wrap it up in one night, we still have the cover story to maintain, so it's not like I'll get to see much of them. Or Morgan for that matter." Listening to Chuck, a light bulb went off in Sarah's mind. Because they were going to be in Chuck's hometown, and there was a chance of someone seeing Chuck, Harper had decided to set the team's cover as an evaluation team for a new unmanned reconnaissance drone currently being tested at Point Mugu, just north of Los Angeles. Needless to say, because of the cover, the team would have to spend a significant amount of time secluded. But Chuck would still have to visit Ellie at least once; otherwise if someone saw him it could get suspicious.

"I know, Chuck, and I'm sorry. But at least you should get to see them for a little while, even if it's not as much as you like. Besides, I'm sure Harper would be willing to give you an extra day or two to visit. You just have to ask." Sarah said. "We'll have to keep at least two of the team in town with you for protection but it shouldn't be too difficult." Chuck blew out a half-breath/half-sigh.

"I guess you're right." Chuck said. "At least I'm not stuck in the desert with no ability to see them other than the occasional video chat." Sarah could tell that there was still something on his mind, but decided to hold off pushing him about it until later.

"So Chuck. How about we catch that new Superman movie you were talking about? And maybe dinner too?" Sarah asked.

"Why Agent Walker, are you asking me for a second date?" Chuck asked in a teasing tone. Sarah stepped over towards him.

"Definitely." She said, grinning. "After all, I got to see your dance moves and combat moves during the last one. I can't wait to see what else you got."

 **Bombardier Learjet 65**

 **Somewhere over California**

 **Thursday, July 14, 2006**

 **1800 hours Pacific Time**

Chuck's eyes fluttered open as he felt Team Bartowski's Leerjet 65 change its altitude. They had been in the air a little over four hours and were about 45 minutes from touchdown at Naval Air Station (NAS) Point Mugu. In keeping with their cover, all the personnel onboard were dressed in either naval or marine uniforms. Inside their luggage was there civilian and mission-specific gear. Chuck glanced over to the seat next to him and smiled as he watch Sarah begin to stir and his thoughts drifted back to the previous night.

 _Begin Flashback_

" _So was it everything you thought it would be?" Sarah asked as her and Chuck walked into her apartment after returning from the movies. This had been their second official date, and it had gone even better than the first, most notably because they had not been interrupted by Chuck flashing on a bad guy and having to engage in a gunfight or high speed chase. Dinner had been wonderful; they had gone to a sushi restaurant in Fairfax that Sarah had heard about. The food had been good and and the company even better. Afterwards they had gone to the movies. Since the movie had been in the theater for almost a month, the theater was not crowded; in fact there had only been a handful of people there. That had suited Sarah just fine, she had used the opportunity to engage Chuck in a mild make-out session during the movie, though it didn't go as far as she wanted. Chuck's self-proclaimed Nerd status wouldn't allow him to completely ignore the Superman movie they had been watching._

" _It was ok." Chuck said. "Personally I'm still partial to the Christopher Reeves movies." Sarah sat down on the sofa and Chuck sat next to her. "But the company more than made up for its shortcomings."_

" _That's good to hear." Sarah said. "Based on your continuing to interrupt our activity in the theater, I was beginning to wonder." Chuck looked down at his shoes. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to sound the way it did, Chuck." Sarah reached out and grabbed his hand. "I had a really good time too."_

" _Sarah, there's something I need to talk to you about." Chuck said, looking up. "Two things actually."_

" _Go ahead Chuck, I hope you know by now that you can talk to me about anything." Sarah said. "I know we've actually only been on two official dates, but I feel like I'm closer to you than I've been to anyone else. I know some of that is because of the amount of time we spent training as a team, but there's more to it than that."_

" _I know, Sarah. I feel the same way." Chuck said. "That's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. I'm falling for you, fast, Sarah Walker. And it scares me a little." Chuck rubbed one of his hands through his hair. "I haven't really dated much since Jill and you know how that ended. And I know your last relationship didn't end well either. I'm afraid of pushing too far too fast. But at the same time, you're like Kryptonite to me Sarah. Every minute I'm with you, my resolve weakens just slightly." Sarah suddenly grabbed Chuck's face in both her hands and pressed her lips to his. A moment later they separated._

" _Thank you for telling me Chuck." Sarah said. "And I think it's sweet that you're afraid of pushing too far too fast. And I certainly don't want to push you into anything you're not ready for either. But just like you say I'm your Kryptonite, the same goes for you. I can honestly say I've never felt like this about anyone before. I think as long as we both keep being honest with each other, everything will be okay."_

" _Well then, that leads me to the second thing I wanted to talk to you about." Chuck said. "I don't think our cover is going to work with Ellie."_

" _What do you mean Chuck?" Sarah asked, confused. Her cover was as a Marine Information Systems Analyst and Chuck's girlfriend, at least with regards to Ellie, Devon, Morgan, and any of Chuck's family and friends they might encounter._

" _Sarah, you don't know Ellie." Chuck said. "She's like a combination mom, CIA interrogator and mind reader all rolled into one when it comes to my love life. There's no way I can get away with pretending you're my girlfriend." He reached over and took her hand. "So I guess we'll just have to make it official. Sarah Walker, will you be my girlfriend, for real, no cover?" Tears welled up in Sarah's eyes as she nodded._

" _Yes." she said._

 _End Flashback_

They had celebrated the official change in their relationship well into the night, though true to both their desires, they had stopped short of crossing that final line. They had fallen asleep on the couch, wrapped in in each other's arms.

"How much longer?" Sarah asked, now fully awake.

"Probably another 45 minutes." Chuck replied.

"Nervous?" Sarah asked.

"A little." Chuck replied. "I'm use to kicking in doors or hitting the enemy heads on, not going undercover."

"You'll be fine, Chuck. You've picked up everything we were trying to teach you in training, and you have the Intersect. Besides, you won't be alone. I'll be right there with you and the rest of the team will be on surveillance and only moments away if we need them." Sarah said, squeezing his leg.

"It's not just that, Sarah." Chuck said, sighing. "This is going to be the first time in years that I've brought a girl home to meet Ellie. I know she's going to love you, but it's still a little nerve wracking."

"I understand Chuck." Sarah said. "Believe it or not, this is actually the first time I've ever been introduced to someone's family, outside of a cover that is."

 **Outside Casa Bartowski**

 **Echo Park, CA**

 **2030 hours**

 **Thursday, July 14, 2006**

Chuck and Sarah stood outside the door to Ellie and Devon's apartment. Both were dressed in the khaki and green Class A Marine Service Uniform, with Sarah's uniform bearing the insignia of a First Lieutenant. After landing at Point Mugu, the jet had taxied to a secure hangar operated by CIA on the base. Even though the CIA personnel assigned there had been screen several times, including by showing their pictures to Chuck to see if he flashed on them, the team spent about twenty minutes scanning the hangar for any unwanted surveillance. Then they moved on to the vehicles provided for them to use while in Los Angeles. As with the hangar, nothing amiss was found.

Price, O'Day, and Burton had taken the team's luggage and equipment to a local boutique hotel that Harper had rented an entire floor of for the team's use. Chuck and Sarah had taken another car and driven to Ellie's apartment complex. Ness followed them in another car and would provide outside surveillance/security while they were there.

"You ready?" Chuck asked.

"Yep. Let's do this." Sarah said. Chuck raised his hand and knocked on the door. A moment later the the door opened.

 **Inside Casa Bartwoski**

 **Echo Park, LA**

 **2030 hours**

 **Thursday, July 14, 2006**

Ellie and Devon had just finished cleaning up after dinner and were sitting down on the couch talking about the subject that had been eating up their non-work time for the last several days: their wedding. It had been a long engagement; both of them wanted to make sure their student loans were paid off and their careers established before getting married. Now it felt like it was time to get moving. As they sat there discussing possible dates, they heard a knock on the door.

"I swear, if that's Morgan, again, I'm going to kill him." Ellie said, only half kidding. Since her brother had joined the Marines and Morgan had started taking his life and job more seriously Ellie had found that she could tolerate her brother's best friend more than in the past. However, he had recently been going through a rough time with his girlfriend of three months, Alex. As a result, he had shown up at the apartment three nights in a row looking for advice from her and Devon, as well as a shoulder to cry on. While both Ellie and Devon were more than glad to try and help him, she had been looking forward to spending some time alone with Devon tonight and discussing wedding dates. Ellie walked over to the door and opened it. When she spied the person standing there, she let out a squeal of surprise and happiness.

"Oh, my god, Chuck!" Ellie exclaimed, pulling Chuck into a hug. A moment later she released him. "What are you doing here? Why didn't you call?"

"I'm in town for a few days, doing some evaluation on some gear at NAS Pt. Mugu." Chuck replied, entering the apartment. "And I wanted to surprise you you guys." It was at this point that Ellie and Devon notice Sarah as she entered behind Chuck. Ellie raised an eyebrow upon seeing her.

"Who's your friend, Chuck?" she asked, secretly holding breathe, hoping this was what she thought it might be. Chuck smiled slightly and took Sarah's hand.

"Ellie, Devon, allow me to introduce 1st Lieutenant Sarah Walker. We work together at the NCTC." Chuck said. "She's also my girlfriend." Ellie let out a squeal of excitement and threw her brother into another hug before backing away and grabbing Sarah into a hug. A moment later she backed away, slightly embarrassed

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Ellie said, mortified. "I don't know what came over me." She held out her hand to shake Sarah's. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Chuck's sister Ellie, and this is my fiance Devon Woodcomb." Sarah took the offered hand and grinned.

"No problem, Ellie." she said. "Chuck warned me you were a hugger. And that I'd be the first girl he'd brought home since that bitch Jill." She released Ellie's hand and moved on to Devon, shaking his hand. "And you're the famous Captain Awesome. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Chuck!" Ellie admonished him, clearly upset that he had used that nickname with Sarah.

"It's ok, babe." Devon said. "I love the nickname; it's just so - awesome." Everyone shared a chuckle. "It's nice to meet you Sarah."

"Well, don't just stand there." Ellie said. "Come in and take a seat. I want to hear all about your job and you two. Tell me everything!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Casa Bartowski**

 **Echo Park, CA**

 **0630 hours**

 **Friday, July 15, 2006**

Chuck groaned as he opened his eyes, momentarily panicking because he couldn't remember where he was due to the extreme hangover he was suffering. He knew it was a bad idea for him and Sarah to take his sister up on the offer of wine last night - he knew what usually happened when he drank with Ellie. She could drink almost any Marine he knew under the table, especially when it came to wine. Then it hit him; he was in his old room. He and Sarah had been too drunk to drive back to the hotel, and Ellie and Awesome had been insistent that they stay the night rather than get a cab. So rather than risking their cover, Sarah had texted Ness and let her know what was happening. He could only assume that sometime during the night, one of the others had relieved her of her surveillance duty. He glanced over to the other side of the bed and saw Sarah laying there, still sleeping.

Chuck rubbed his eyes, trying to clear the cobwebs. Then, very carefully and quietly, he climbed out of bed so as not to disturb Sarah.

 _Thank God I still had some clothes left in here._ Chuck thought to himself as he glanced down first at himself and then over at Sarah again. He was dressed in a pair of pajama bottoms and she was wearing a pair of shorts and one of his old t-shirts. He looked back up as he heard a sound from the kitchen. _Must be Awesome_ Chuck thought, as his sister usually wasn't a morning person. He walked out of his bedroom and down the hall towards the kitchen.

"Morning Chuck!" Ellie greeted him. Chuck winced at her voice.

"How can you be so chipper this morning?" Chuck said. "Got any tylenol?"

"Got something better." Ellie said. "Go sit down in the chair." Chuck looked over to the chair and spotted the IV stand.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Chuck exclaimed. However, that sentiment did not keep him from walking over to sit in the chair, his sister following behind. After a few moments she had installed the IV into his arm.

"Just relax." Ellie said. "One bag and you should be good to go."

"Thanks sis." Chuck said, relaxing in the chair.

"So listen, while you're captive here, and Sarah's asleep, I wanted to talk to you." Ellie said.

"Sure." Chuck said.

"Sarah seems like a really nice girl. I like her." Ellie led off with. "How serious are you guys?"

"It's complicated, Ellie." Chuck said. "We've been working together and hanging out for a couple of months, like we told you last night; we've only been on a handful of dates. I just asked her to make our relationship official a couple days ago." He ran his hand through his hair. "We've both agreed to try and take things slow. Neither one of us has had much luck in the way of relationships the last few years. In fact, she just got out of a bad one last year."

"But?" Ellie prompted.

"But, as much as we're trying to go slow, it's been difficult. We've both acknowledged that emotionally, we're falling fast." Chuck said. "She's unlike any woman I've ever known. I thought I loved Jill when I was in college; what I'm feeling her is a thousand times more than I ever felt for Jill." Ellie smiled at this. She had been afraid the last few years that the disaster with Jill would keep her brother from moving on and finding someone to love.

"That's great, Chuck." Ellie said. "Just make sure you say open and honest about what you're feeling with her and I'm sure everything will be fine." She took a deep breath; the next thing she wanted to talk to Chuck about was probably going to cause an argument, but it had been on her mind a lot lately.

"Chuck, how much longer on your commitment to the Marines?" she asked hesitantly. Chuck sighed; he had a feeling he knew where this conversation was going. While his sister had accepted his decision to join the Corps, he knew that she still would prefer he got out and did something safer. He mentally chuckled to himself as he thought about what her reaction to his current _real_ assignment would be.

"I still owe them another three years since I was commissioned." he said. "After that, it's up to me. Lately, I've been thinking of making it a career."

"But why Chuck?" Ellie asked. "You have your degree now. I know you want to help people, but there are other jobs you could do that you could still help people and it would be a lot less dangerous."

 _If you only knew._ Chuck thought to himself.

"I know, sis. But for probably the first time in my life, I feel like I belong. And I love being a Marine. I'm good at it." he said.

"But Chuck, it's dangerous." Ellie said. "These wars don't seem to have any end in sight. And now that you're a Raider, it just means you're going to be sent on even more dangerous assignments. And I promised dad I would look after you!"

"Dammit Ellie, I'm not a kid anymore!" Chuck said, angrily. "I get that you worry about me, I really do. And I'm sorry to put you through that, I really am. But I can't just turn my back on this. Like it or not, this is who I am now. It's not fair to ask me to give up something that's a part of me. Maybe some day I'll decide I want out, but that's not now. I know it's dangerous; but I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror knowing I could help, that I could stand with my brothers and sisters in arms and walked away. No more than you can walk away from being a doctor. You don't have to like it. But you have to respect that it's MY choice. Not yours or anyone else's."

Motion in the hallway attracted their attention, effective ending the quasi-conversation/argument. Turning to look, the pair spied Sarah walking into the room.

"Morning, Chuck." Sarah said, groggily. "How come you didn't wake me?"

"Morning, baby." Chuck said, Sarah smiling at his name for her. "You just look so cute sleeping that I didn't want to disturb you."

"Well, as much as I appreciate the extra couple of minutes sleeping, we need to be at the base in two hours." Sarah said. Chuck glanced at the IV bag hanging on the stand; it was half empty.

"Ellie, do you have another one of these for Sarah?" he asked. Ellie nodded. "Why don't you go grab a shower Sarah. By the time you're done this should be empty and Ellie can put a fresh one on. It does wonders for a hangover." Sarah nodded and walked back into the hall, heading to Chuck's room. A moment later she walked into the bathroom and soon the sound of the shower running could be heard.

"Ellie, I don't want to fight with you. Can we please just dropped the conversation we were having, at least for now?" Chuck said, sighing. At her nod, he continued, "And promise me you won't bring it up to Sarah. First, she loves her job as much as I do. Second, we've only just started dating; I don't want her to feel pressured in anything."

"I promise." Ellie said. "I won't bring it up to her. But rest assured little brother, this conversation is not over permanently."

 **Maison3 Hotel**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **Friday, July 15, 2006**

 **0830 hours**

"Well, look what the cat finally dragged in." Andrea Price joked as Chuck and Sarah walked into the suite that the team was using as their temporary operations center. A moment later, Patrick O'Day came in behind them. He had relieved Samantha the night before when Sarah had let the team know they would be crashing at Chuck's sister's apartment.

"Give it a rest, Andrea." Chuck said. "Are we all ready for later?"

"Yep." Samantha said. "We've established cover identities for you and Sarah and got you on the invite list for the auction. You're going as Charles Carmichael and his fiance, Sarah Burton. Jason Andrea and I will be in the surveillance van on comms and looking at the security feed and act as emergency back up if needed. Pat will be inside posing as a bartender."

"Wow. From dating to engaged in less than a week. You move fast, Chuck." Sarah teased, grinning at the slight blush that made its way up Chuck's neck. "But seriously, any known hostiles on the guest list?"

"None that we could find." Pat said, handing Chuck a folder. "Here's pictures of all the staff and as many of the guests as we could get. But there's still about a dozen we don't have pictures for yet."

Chuck walked over to the table and sat down. Opening the folder, he scanned the guest list, then began flipping through the pictures. He flashed a couple of names, but none in the league of La Ciudad. There were a couple people with restraining orders against them from ex-lovers. He told as much to the team.

"Well, I suppose it was too much to ask for this to go the easy way." Jason said. "So that really just leaves one question, Chuck. Do you know how to Tango?"

 **Whiltshire Strand Hotel**

 **Main Ballroom**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **Friday, July 15, 2006**

 **1930 Hours**

"Chuck Bartowski? Is that you?" Allan Watterman exclaimed as Chuck and Sarah walked up the bar to order drinks. They had arrived at the hotel thirty minutes earlier and after make a quick circuit of the ballroom, had yet to identify La Ciudad or any of his associates.

 _Shit._ Chuck thought himself as he recognized Allan. The two had gone to Stanford together. _What's this prick doing here? His name wasn't on the list!_ Then he flashed. It turned out his former college acquaintance had been a very bad boy, from embezzlement, tax fraud, and insider trading. He quickly glanced around, seeing if anyone was paying attention.

"Oh hi, uh Allan." Chuck said. "Long time no see." He shot a quick look to Sarah, giving her a slight signal. It was one of many they had worked out during training. It meant that someone recognized him and their cover was in danger.

"What have you been up to do?" Allan asked. "The last I heard you left the Buy More to become a knuckle dragger." Chuck tensed slightly; it was not the first time he had heard such derogatory comments about the Marines, yet it still got to him.

"Nothing much, Alan." Chuck said, trying to keep his cool. "I live in DC now, got a new job." It was close enough to the truth. "I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Sarah."

"Wow Chuck! She's gorgeous! Way to go!" Allan said as he took Sarah's hand and kissed it. While he was distracted by Sarah, Chuck noticed Pat (who was posing as the bartender) slip something into Allan's drink.

Within five minutes after Allan took a drink from his glass, he began to sag. Chuck grabbed him and helped him off the stool.

"Come on Allan, you look like you need some air." Chuck said, leading him across the ballroom towards the exit, Sarah following them from behind. They got him out the door and sat him down on the steps. By now he was out completely. A moment later a DC police officer walked by and noticing them stopped.

"Is this man ok?" he asked.

"Passed out officer." Sarah said. "I think he had too much to drink."

"Is he a friend of yours?"

"Not really." Chuck said. "We went to school together. Haven't seen him in a few years until tonight, he kinda went off the reservation for a while."

"Ok. I'll take it from here." the cop said. "My cruiser's just up the street. I'll take him to the drunk tank." With that he grabbed Allan and pulled him to his feet and supporting him by placing Allan's arm over his shoulder, began to walk away. Meanwhile, Sarah and Chuck stood discussing what to do next.

"Any chance anyone overheard him greet you?" Sarah asked.

"I doubt it; between the music and the other conversations going on it would have been pretty hard." Chuck said. "What do you think Pat?"

"I think you're right Chuck; I didn't notice anyone at the bar area paying any special attention to you." Pat said over the coms.

"Andrea, Samantha?" Sarah asked.

"Security feed seems clear; nothing to indicate anything." Samantha said. Just then the door to the surveillance van opened and Jason, dressed as the cop, pushed the unconscious Allan into the van. A moment later he was also and the van door closed. "BTW, Jason's back with your friend. We'll sit on him for now; that tranq that Pat slipped him should keep him out for about eight hours. How bad a guy is he?"

"Mostly financial crimes. Keep him on ice and we'll turn him over to the SEC." Chuck said. "We're going to head back in. We still need to try and figure out who La Ciudad is. Besides, I still owe Sarah a Tango."

 **Ten minutes later…**

"Looks like they're opening the viewing of the gallery." Sarah said. The two agents had been mingling around the party after having coming back inside.

"Let's go get a look at that painting." Chuck said. "Maybe seeing it in person will cause me to flash on something more." Sarah nodded and the pair made their way into the next room where the art that would be up for auction had been arranged. They slowly made their way around the room, stopping briefly at each piece so they wouldn't attract attention by concentrating on one painting in particular. Finally they came to the painting they were interested in. Chuck studied it for a moment, before leaning in to whisper in Sarah's ear.

"No flash, but Sarah, something is definately up with this painting. The frame has been switched." he said softly.

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked back. Chuck nodded. Before they could speak any further or alert the rest of the team, a rather attractive, middle-aged Latina woman walked up besides them, standing to Chuck's right side.

"It is a beautiful painting, is it not?" she said.

"Yeah, it has a certain quality about it." Chuck said. "Very Bob Rossian in its influence."

"Bob Rossian?" she asked.

"Yeah, you know the guy on PBS who painted landscape? Happy Little Trees?" Chuck said, turning to look at her. As he did so, he caught sight of a scar on her neck. The flash hit him instantly. _Shit!_ Chuck thought. _That's La Ciudad!_ He looked back at the painting. _I've got to get Sarah away from here and fill her in. But how?_ Just then, he heard the familiar beginning strains of a dance he had been looking forward to sharing with Sarah - the Tango.

"Sarah, dear," Chuck said, turning to her and taking her by the hand. "I believe they're playing our dance. Shall we?" His eyes bore into hers, hoping she would take the hit.

"Yes, let's." Sarah replied. They excused themselves and walked out of the room and back into the main ballroom. Chuck could feel the eyes of the woman following them. Making their way to the dance floor, he took Sarah into his arms and the two began to dance.

"Okay Chuck, what's so important." Sarah whispered as they danced.

"That woman over by the painting. That's La Ciudad." Chuck replied.

"Are you sure Chuck?" Pat said over their earwigs.

"Yeah. Flashed on a scar she has." Chuck said. "Her real name is Meyer Ortiz, Mexican national. Her father and older brothers were members of one of the minor cartels the country. They were killed during a joint Mexican Army-DEA raid. She's going by the name Malena Bernal."

"Ok." Sarah said. "If she's here then Lutz must be nearby." Just then she noticed Malena head toward the exit of the ballroom, followed several steps behind by a pair of men that screamed "bodyguards" in appearance, as the dance ended. "She's leaving the ballroom. Looks like she has two shadows." Chuck glanced towards the door.

"We better follow." he said, leading Sarah off the dance floor. "Pat, wait a few minutes and follow us." Then he spoke to the team in the van. "Do you her on the security cameras?"

"Affirmative Chuck, they're heading towards the elevators in the lobby." Jason said. "They're getting into one. Switching to the camera in the elevator. They're headed to the 9th floor."

"Roger that." Sarah said as they exited the ballroom and hurried towards the lobby. "Andrea, Samantha, you better get in here and cover the exits just in case. Jason, contact Harper and get a response team ready just in case."

"On our way." Andrea said.

"Already dialing." Jason replied.

 **Five minutes later…**

"We're exiting the elevator now." Chuck said. "Anything on the security feed?"

"They entered the suite at the end of the hall. There's one guard in the hall in front of the door." Jason said. "Samantha and Andrea are in place." The elevator doors opened and Chuck and Sarah exited and turned towards their destination, acting very much like a drunk couple on their way to a rendezvous. As they approached the guard, Sarah suddenly lashed out with a kick to the diaphragm, knocking the wind out of the guard and doubling him over. A moment later Chuck followed up with an uppercut that knocked him out could. Both agents then drew their Sig Sauer P229 sidearms. Sarah nodded to Chuck, who then prepared to kick the suite door in.

 **Meanwhile, inside the Suite…**

"Well Dr. Lutz, is this the genuine article?" Malena asked as she walked over to the makeshift work station that had been set up in the suite. The doctor was seated at the workstation examining a frame. Throughout the room, five other people were present, all of them guards.

"It appears to be the genuine article." Dr. Lutz responded. "I won't know for sure until I can get it back to a proper lab, of course, but this is definitely the frame that was on the painting originally. Seems our friend from MI-6 was being truthful."

Malena smiled. After the painting had arrived and been brought into the gallery, her people had quite by accident noticed a known MI-6 operative watching the gallery. It had only taken a few moments to capture him and less than a day to break him.

 _Agents these days._ she sneered to herself. _Nothing but a bunch of over glorified rent-a-cops. Not like the old days when one could count on a challenge._ She turned to one of her men.

"Good, then we have no more use for him." she said. "Kill him." The guard nodded and walked into another part of the suite. A moment later the sound of two suppressed pistol shots was faintly heard. The guard re-entered the main part of the suite, holstering his weapon.

"Start sanitizing the room.." Malena ordered. The guards started to destroy everything in the suite that could be used. Malena stood watching silently, when a noise outside the suite attracted her attention. She was just about to order one of the guards to go check it out when the door to the suite burst open and two people entered the suite, each brandishing a pistol. The guards reacted almost instantly, reaching for their weapons but not quick enough. One of the intruders, a rather attractive blonde female, took two of them out with well placed shots to the chest and a third with a throwing knife to the throat. Her companion, a tall, lithe man with brown hair, took out the other two guards just as fast.

"Federal Agents! Hands in the air!" the man shouted as he and the woman covered Malena and Dr. Lutz. Malena clapped slowly and smiled.

"Very good." she said. "Who are you? CIA?"

"Sorry, that's on a need-to-know basis." Sarah replied. "And you don't need to know miss. Or should I say, La Ciudad?" Malena's smile faltered slightly.

"How do you know that I am that name?" she hissed.

"That's also need-to-know." Chuck said. "Let's just say, you and your people aren't as good as you think you are." He turned to Dr. Lutz. "Move over here, slowly. Keep your hands where I can see them." Then he spoke into his radio. "Targets in custody. Samantha, Andrea, get up here. By the looks of this place, we're going to need help going through everything. Jason, get cleaner team here, asap."

"Roger Chuck." three voices said over the radio.

"You got them?" Chuck asked Sarah. She nodded, her weapon leveled at the two prisoners. Chuck holstered his pistol and walked carefully over to Dr. Lutz and searched him for weapons, finding a small automatic in an ankle holster. He tossed it across the room, then grabbed his arms and using a set of flex-cuffs he pulled from his pocket, cuffed him. "Your turn." he said to Malena as he patted her down. Finding no weapons, he pulled another set of flex-cuffs and secured her as well. He then led them over to a couch where he proceed to push them down into a sitting position. The sound of feet approaching the suite caused both him and Sarah to glance at the door.

"Sorry it took so long." Samantha said as she entered the suite. "We had to take the stairs. All the elevators were in use." Behind her, Andrea entered the suite and closed the door.

"No problem." Sarah said. "Andrea, keep an eye on these two; we'll search the suite." Andrea walked over to the two prisoners and relieved Sarah. Samantha and Sarah then proceeded to search the rest of the suite while Chuck went to the workstation.

"Sarah! Get in here!" Samantha's voice shouted from one of the rooms. Sarah made her way across the suite and entered the room. She was greeted by the sight of Samantha leaning over a man who had been secured to a chair, and had two gunshot wounds, one to the head and one to the heart.

"Any idea who he is?" Sarah asked. It was clear he was dead, and very recently. Samantha shook her head. Sarah took out her phone and took a picture. She then exited the room and walked back over to Chuck, who was examining the frame.

"Anything?" Sarah asked. Chuck glanced over to her and his eyes startled here. Though the rest of him appeared to be calm, his eyes shone with deep concern."

"Yeah." He said. "You better tell Jason to sent a NEST team with the cleaners. I think there might be plutonium in this frame." Sarah's eyes widened slightly at this. Quickly she spoke into her radio and relayed the information to Jason. When she was done, she turned back to Chuck.

"They're on their way." she said. Then she showed him the phone. "Anybody we know?" If Sarah hadn't see the signs before, she wouldn't have noticed the flash. Chuck nodded slightly indicating that he had an ID.

"Let's check these computers out." He said, leading Sarah over to two laptops. As they began examining them, Chuck whispered to Sarah. "He's MI-6. What the hell was he doing here? There was nothing in Intersect or our mission brief about a British operation going on here."

"I'm not sure." Sarah whispered in return. "We'll have to get Harper on it once we're done here."

A knock at the suite door interrupted them. Both got up and walked towards the door, which Sarah taking up position just off to the side in case of trouble. Chuck looked out the peephole and spotted the cleaner team. Nodding to Sarah he opened the door and let them in.

"Let's get these two on ice." Chuck said, motioning towards Malena and Dr. Lutz.


	12. Chapter 12

**Secure Hangar**

 **NAS Pt. Mugu, CA**

 **Friday, July 15, 2006**

 **2300 hours**

"Excellent work team." Masden said over the video conference. "Harper is on a conference call now with the National Security Advisor and the head of MI-6 to find out what the hell the Brits were doing running an operation in Los Angeles without notifying us."

Chuck and the team had returned to the secure hangar at Pt. Mugu with their prisoners, who were immediately put into an office that had been cleared out and converted into a temporary holding cell. In the morning the team would turn them over to a rendition team (that Chuck had already vetted) who would transport them to a CIA black site where they would be incarcerated until they had been drained of all intelligence and then transferred to one of several designated prison facilities for dangerous, high-value targets.

"Have we identified the body?" Sarah asked.

"Not yet." Masden said. "Hopefully Harper will be able to get that information as well."

"Where's Casey and his team?" Chuck asked. He had expected them to be on the video conference as well. The standard procedure the team had set up was that the stand-by team would be present at all briefs and debriefs unless they were also in the field.

"They should be just about ready to touch down in Puerto Rico." Masden said. "San Juan police raided what they thought was Meth lab this morning; but instead of Meth, they found bomb making materials, Korans, and false passports."

"Do you need me to look over anything?" Chuck asked.

"No not yet Chuck." Masden said. "Casey and his team will probably need at least 12 hours to begin their investigation and get anything new. So for now, you're still on standby." Chuck nodded in understanding.

"Understood." Chuck said. "I'm assuming you want us back at Quantico once we hand off the prisoners?" Just then, Harper joined Masden on the screen.

"Negative, Chuck." Harper said. "Other than the Puerto Rico thing, nothing is on the immediate horizon. So take a few days to visit with your sister. The rest of you, play tourist. If we need you for anything, we'll call."

"Thanks boss." the team responded.

"Now, on to the matter of the MI-6 operative." Harper said. "Apparently MI-6 was tipped off about the plutonium by one of their informants in Tehran. They were able to intercept it when it landed in Los Angeles. At that point they decided to swap out the frame and deliver it to the gallery in hopes of capturing La Ciudad. Unfortunately, the agent who was watching the painting was ambushed and captured. A couple hours later, right before he was to check in, the safe house they had been using was hit and the rest of the team killed and the frame was taken. You know what happened after that."

"Why were they operating here without our knowledge in the first place?" Sarah asked.

"That's where it gets good." Harper said. "Apparently there's been some...concern on the part of our cousins across the pond concerning just how compromised our intelligence and law enforcement agencies are by Fulcrum. Same with our government. So naturally, they decided it would be better to follow the age-old adage of it's better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission."

As much as they hated to admit it, Chuck's team couldn't help but recognize the logic on the part of MI-6. Had the situation been reversed, it was probable that the U.S. would at least consider the same approach. Unfortunately, in this case it was a disastrous decision. Though ultimately the plutonium was recovered and La Ciudad captured, it had been a very near thing and it had cost the lives of five British agents.

"Can we assume that they'll be keeping us in the loop from now on?" Sarah asked. Harper grinned.

"You can say that." he responded. "Considering the ass chewing the President and the Prime Minister is giving them right about now."

 **Puerto Rico Police Department**

 **San Juan, Puerto Rico**

 **Friday, July 15, 2006**

 **2330 hours**

"Welcome to Puerto Rico, agents." Superintendent Pedro Toledo, head of the Puerto Rico Police Department said, acknowledging Casey, Carina, Alex, Jack, Frank, and Jennifer as they walked in. For purposes of this trip, the team was posing as FBI agents assigned to the National Security Branch (NSB). Casey reached out and shook the Superintendent's hand, and introduced his team.

"This is Inspector Garcia. He is heading up our task force." Toledo said, pointing to the man next to him.

"Agents." Inspector Garcia greeted. "We have an all-points bulletin out on the occupants of the home and elevated the island's alert level."

"Is the home secure?" Casey asked.

"Yes. We got three units sitting on the house at the moment. CSI has already dusted for prints and bomb disposal has taken away the bomb materials." Garcia said. "Do you want to see the scene tonight?" Casey looked at his watch.

"No, let's get a couple hours of shut eye, then we'll hit it in the morning." Casey responded. "Did you put together the info we wanted?" Garcia handed him a flash drive.

"Everything we have so far." Garcia responded. Casey turned and handed the flash drive to Jack.

"Make sure the data gets sent to headquarters." Casey ordered.

"You got it boss." Jack replied.

 **Maison23**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **Saturday, July 16, 2006**

 **0930 hours**

Sarah and Chuck had returned to their hotel room at 0500 after the team had turned their prisoners over to the prisoner transport team. They had immediately fallen asleep almost as soon as they hit the bed. Upon agreement with the rest of the team and Harper, the team would get a few hours' sleep, and then Chuck would participate in a video conference with Casey's team. Unless something came up, they would then be on R&R for the next three days.

Movement and sound from her left awoke Sarah. Looking over to the other side of the bed she saw Chuck thrashing slightly and making a sound that was half-way between a cry and a moan. It was clear that he was having a nightmare; Sarah had enough of her own to know the signs. She reached over and pulled Chuck into an embrace softly whispering in his ear.

"Shhhh. It's okay Chuck; you're having a nightmare. I've got you. Wake up baby." she said. After a few moments Chuck stilled and after a few more moments, his eyes opened.

"Thanks." he said, looking down, clearly embarrassed. Sarah reached over and brought his face back up using her hand, then kissed him gently.

"It's okay Chuck." Sarah said after she broke the kiss. "I still get nightmares occasionally. Do you want to talk about it?" Chuck sighed slightly and was silent a few moments. He knew he should talk about it but was reluctant to do so. He hated showing weakness in front of his fellow Marines and co-workers. One look in Sarah's eyes crumbled any resistance to sharing however. Her eyes had a mixture of understanding, caring, love, and insistence in them.

"It's been the same one I've been having for a while now. It's not all the time, just after certain combat situations." Chuck said, running his hand through his hair. "It started not long after I was first deployed to Afghanistan. There was a small village on the outer edge of the sector my unit was assigned to. They had been through the wringer under the Taliban and the people were glad we were there. With some help, they had begun building a school, a real one, one that even the girls could go to. A week after it opened, Taliban insurgents launched an attack on our base. Except that attack was a faint; their real target was the school. By the time we got word what was happening, it was too late." Chuck stopped talking and got a distant look. "They had rounded up the entire village and forced them to watch as they raped the girl students and then killed all of them. Then they killed the boys."

"Oh Chuck." Sarah said softly.

"All they wanted to do was live in peace and go to school." Chuck said, sorrow and anger in his voice. "Anyway, the first couple of weeks after that, it was like I could see the whole thing happening when I slept. Finally, the nightmares started to get fewer and fewer; talking to the unit Chaplain helped some. After a while, they disappeared completely. Then I got sent to Iraq. They didn't come back as bad, but anytime we had a particularly bad mission involving civilians, they would hit. When I got sent to OCS, they stopped. Until last night."

"The British agent." Sarah said, understanding.

"Yep. Though obviously the situation was different, it amounted to the same thing. Someone helpless being tortured and killed. On top of it, the realization what could have happened if I hadn't flashed. Who knows where that plutonium would have ended up." Chuck said.

"I know how you feel, Chuck." Sarah said. "Doing this job, more than once I've witnessed some pretty horrific things. And nightmares happen more than a lot of agents want to admit."

"Even you?" Chuck asked. Sarah nodded.

"Absolutely. Different ones at different times." Sarah said. "The one that happens the most concerns my first solo assignment. My Red Test." Chuck's eyes widened. Thanks to his combat record, when he was transferred to the team he had been cleared from having to take a red test. This was an agent's ultimate test, used to determine if they could take a life on their superior's orders.

"How do you handle it?" Chuck said.

"I didn't at first." Sarah said. "I just tried to shove my feelings down and stomp on them. I tried to pretend that the nightmares weren't happening. All that accomplished was turn me into a robot. Eventually it started affecting my performance. Then a friend and fellow agent forced me to confront it."

"Bryce?" Chuck asked. Sarah laughed.

"Are you kidding?" Sarah asked. "His idea of helping me was to tell me to suck it up or he'd have to report me as not being fit for field duty. No, believe it or not, it was Carina. I was loaned out to DEA for an operation, without Bryce. She noticed that something was off; after the mission was over, she forged a leave request from me, drugged me, and took me out into the middle of the Arizona desert for a long weekend. Then she forced me to talk about it. I guess I must have really wanted to talk about it; after all, I didn't kick her ass when I came to." Chuck laughed; he could almost picture Sarah assaulting the redhead.

"Bottom line Chuck; you can't bury this. You need to talk to someone. If you don't want to talk to me, Casey or one of the others have probably had similar experience. And nobody on this team would think differently of you because of it." Sarah said. "If you don't feel comfortable with one of the team, you could always use one of the Agency shrinks, or maybe that Chaplain you mentioned, assuming he's stateside."

"Father O'Brien? Yeah, he's stationed at the Naval Academy at the moment." Chuck replied. He leaned over and kissed Sarah. "Thanks for listening."

"Anytime Chuck. I love you. Your problems are now my problems." Sarah said.

 **Conference Room**

 **Puerto Rico Police Department**

 **San Juan, Puerto Rico**

 **Saturday, July 16, 2015**

 **1100 hours**

"Inspector, allow me to introduce Charles Spencer, our Technical Analyst assigned to this investigation." Casey said, indicating to the screen where Chuck was displayed, using the agreed upon code name for him when the team was posing as FBI.

"Pleased to meet you Mr. Spencer." Inspector Garcia said.

"Any luck with the data we sent?" Jack asked. Chuck shook his head.

"Negative." Chuck responded. "I ran the information against our database, Homeland Security, DEA, hell I even reached out to a friend at CIA. None of the names on the passports or other papers or fingerprints are coming up."

"What about chatter?" Casey asked. Though Chuck's statement indicated nothing in the Intersect, they had to keep up appearances.

"Nothing. As far as all the Federal agencies are concerned there's nothing on the threat board." Chuck answered. "This is damn odd. All the usual suspect groups generally like to brag about upcoming strikes. So either they've changed their behavior, or we're dealing with a new group or it's a red herring."

"Ok. We're going to head out to the scene to see if we can find anything new." Casey said. Then he turned to the Inspector. "Anything from the airport or port?"

"No. We've beefed up our presence at both plus all the government buildings. We've put an APB out island wide as well and our Emergency Response Team is standing by, just in case." Inspector Garcia said.

 **Parking Lot**

 **Burbank Buymore**

 **Burbank, CA**

 **Saturday, July 16, 2005**

 **1200 hours**

Sarah glanced at Chuck as she put the car in park. After Chuck's teleconference with Casey's team, the pair had headed over to the Buymore where Chuck's friend Morgan Grimes was the Assistant Manager, and where Chuck had worked in college. Sarah smiled; Chuck had been insistent that he introduce her to Morgan. From the stories Chuck had told her, he looked on Morgan as a surrogate brother and he was excited to introduce Sarah to him. After turning the car off, the pair got out and started walking towards the store. Both were wearing their Marine uniforms in keeping with their cover for the weekend. That way, when they were in the presence of Ellie later and the subject of their visit to the Buymore came up (as it surely would, given Morgan's habit of dropping in on Bartowski's family dinners) they could play it off as a lunchtime visit from work. As they walked, Chuck slipped his hand into Sarah's.

A few moments later they entered the store and were greeted by the sight of every male in the store, save one, staring intently at the Nerd Herd desk, ogling a delivery girl who seemed dressed to kill and not being discreet about her attempts to get attention. Another quick glance showed them that the lone male not watching the show was shoplifting. Chuck and Sarah exchanged quick glances, communicating silently. A moment later they split up as the man started heading for the exit.

 **Burbank Buymore**

 **Burbank, CA**

 **Saturday, July 16, 2005**

 **1205 hours**

Jeff Barnes and Lester Patel were in heaven. For the fourth day in a row, they had the luck of having the goddess of the Pita Parlour had been the one to deliver lunch. As usual the brunette beauty was in tight shirts and a white polo shirt at least one size to small with its buttons undone. The result was that from the moment she entered the store, every pair of male eyes was on her. And considering she was leaning over the Nerd Herd desk, Jeff and Lester had the best seats in the house, right down her shirt.

In point of fact, they were so engrossed in watching her, that they failed to notice a tall man nearby pocketing merchandise. After a few more moments, he made his way towards the exit. He got within a few steps when his path was blocked by a beautiful blonde in a Marine uniform.

"Going somewhere?" Sarah smirked. He was about to respond when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he saw a tall, lithe man also wearing a Marine uniform.

"It's not nice to shop without paying." Chuck said. "I think we should go see the manager with your partner over there." The man took a swing at Chuck, who ducked quickly and hit him with a punch to the stomach. He crumbled to the ground. By now the commotion had succeeded in breaking the spell that had been cast over the store by the delivery girl.

"What's going on here?" Lester asked.

"I'm saving your bacon again, Lester. I thought after almost five years you would've learned to do your job." Chuck said. Lester looked at him for a moment, not recognizing him.

"Chuck! What are you doing here?! What's going on?!" Morgan Grimes exclaimed, the commotion had drawn him out of his office. At this, Lester's eyes widened. Unlike Morgan, he had not seen Chuck since he left the Buymore to join the Marines. He had heard the stories that Morgan told, but he had never really believed them.

"Hi little buddy. Got a shoplifter here. Looks like his partner over there-" Chuck motioned to the Nerd Herd desk where Sarah now had the delivery girl in custody "-provided the distraction while he went shopping..." Morgan glanced over to the delivery girl, then at Jeff and Lester, as well as the other Green Shirts.

"Dammit guys!" Morgan exclaimed. "All of you get back to work. There will be a mandatory staff meeting after closing tonight." At this there was a loud groan. "And anybody who doesn't show shouldn't bother coming in for their next shift. They'll be fired!" With that the Buy More employees started drifting back to work. Sarah pushed the delivery girl I've to join her partner.

"What do you want to do with these two?" Sarah asked. Morgan looked at her a moment, obviously admiring her.

"I'll call the police." Morgan said. "If you just leave her with my friend here and I we won't take up anymore of your shopping time, Miss-"

"Uh, Morgan?" Chuck interrupted, "This is Sarah. My girlfriend." Morgan's eyes widen slightly, then shit Chuck a look of approval.

"Way to go, dude!" He exclaimed, raising his hand to give Chuck a high-five. Sarah giggled slightly at his antics.

"Morgan, perhaps it would be a good idea if we take care of these two-" Chuck said, pointing at the two sulking shoplifters, "-then we can catch up." Morgan looked slightly chagrined.

"Yeah, you're right. Follow me." He said and began walking to his office.

 **Burbank Buymore**

 **Burbank, CA**

 **Saturday, July 16, 2005**

 **1230 hours**

Almost a half-hour later, they had finished up turning the shop lifters over to the police and giving their statements.

"So, now that business is out of the way," Morgan said. "How about we go grab a bite to eat and you can fill me in on you and Sarah here?" Chuck and Sarah grinned.

"Sure. Our project's ahead of schedule so we can afford a long lunch." Chuck said.

"Great!" Morgan exclaimed, and then remembered something. "I'm supposed meet Alex for lunch in a couple of minutes. Do you mind a double date? If not, maybe we can catch up later?"

"Are you kidding?" Chuck said. "I can't wait to meet the famous Alex."

"Ok, let's take a walk over to the Orange Orange and get her." Morgan said, getting up from his desk.

After stopping to say hello to Big Mike, the manager of the Buymore who had just returned from lunch, the trio exited the store and headed across the parking lot towards the Orange Orange Yogurt frozen yogurt shop. When they approached the door, Morgan held it open for Chuck and Sarah.

"Thank you." Sarah said. Once inside, they spied a young woman in yoga pants and an Orange Orange tank top with her back turned toward the door doing something at the sink. She was about 5' 6" with long black hair in a ponytail style and a slim figure.

"Welcome to Orange Orange. I'll be right with you." She said.

"No problem Alex." Morgan said. "We'll wait." A moment later Alex turned around and walked out from behind the counter and came up to the trio. She gave Morgan a quick kiss on the lips.

"Are you going to introduce me to your friends?" Alex said, giving Chuck and Sarah a quick glance.

"Alex, I'd like you to meet by best friend, the one I told you about, Chuck Bartowski. And this is his girlfriend, Sarah-" Morgan started, then drifted off when he realized he hadn't gotten Sarah's last name.

"Walker." Sarah replied, holding out her hand to shake Alex's.

"Uh, right." Morgan said. "Guys, this is my girlfriend, Alex McHugh." Alex shot him a dark look. "Oh, sorry, babe. I'm still getting used to it. It's actually Alex Coburn now. McHugh was her stepfather's name and now that he and her mom got divorced, she's gone back to her biological father's name." Upon hearing Alex's last name, the original one, Chuck flashed. Luckily Morgan and Alex didn't notice, but Sarah did.

"Nice to meet you." Chuck said, holding out his hand to shake hers. "I hope you don't mind, but Sarah and I are in town for work and we thought we'd stop by over lunch to catch up with Morgan. He told us you guys had plans and asked us along." Alex laughed.

"Oh no its fine." Alex said. "I'll finally get to meet the infamous Chuck Bartowski. I'm dying to know if half the stories Morgan tells me were true or not." The quartet the moved toward the door and exited the store.

"You guys want to ride together?" Morgan asked.

"No can do little buddy." Chuck said. "Sarah and I will have to head back to Pt. Mugu right after lunch." Morgan's face fell slightly; clearly he had been hoping to spend more time with Chuck.

"We'll actually be in town until Tuesday. And since tomorrow's Sunday, we have the day off. Maybe we can all do something then?" Sarah said.

"Awesome." Morgan said. The group spent a few minutes deciding where to go for lunch, then separated and headed for their respective cars. As they got into their rental, Sarah turned to Chuck.

"What was that flash about?" Sarah asked.

"Morgan's girlfriend." Chuck said, grinning. Sarah looked at him confused; she couldn't understand why he would be grinning if he flashed on the girl.

"Why are you grinning then?" she asked.

"Because, when they mentioned her biological father's last name, it triggered on a personnel file for someone we know very well." Chuck said. "Alexander Coburn. Marine Recon Officer. Recruited by the NSA in the late 80s as part of an elite black ops unit. Was officially KIA in Honduras, but in reality given a new identity. Unknown to him, his fiancé at the time was pregnant."

"You said we know him?" Sarah asked, confused. Chuck nodded.

"Yep. Alexander Coburn became John Casey." Chuck replied. Sarah gasped.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Chuck pointed to his head.

"It's all in the Intersect." Chuck said.

"So Morgan is dating Casey's daughter; one he doesn't know about. And she think's he's dead." Sarah said. "What are we going to do about it?"

"Not sure." Chuck responded. "I guess the question is, do we think Casey would want to know? And second, but equally as important, would Alex want to know her dad is alive after all this time?"


	13. Chapter 13

_**Author's Note:**_ _first off, I want to thank everyone for their kind reviews. I really appreciate it. Second, I need to offer an apology. When I started this story, it was with the intention of doing weekly updates. That plan has gone out the window. I've started a new project at work and it has been taking up more and more of my time. Not to worry though, I have no intention of abandoning this story...it's just that updates will be longer in coming. Please bear with me. Also, after this chapter and the next, I'll be skipping ahead a little bit in the timeline; as much as I like writing the day-to-day evolution of Chuck and Sarah, and their team, I feel the need to move the story along at a slightly faster pace; at least for a little while._

 _Finally, I just need to vent about a pet peeve of mine with Fan Fiction writers in general. People, the category selections are there for a reason, to let the reader know, in general, what kind of story they are looking at it. I understand that sometimes it can be hard to categorize a story and that FF .net does not make it easy (I believe they only allow you to select 2 at most) but nothing is more frustrating than starting to read a story (more often than not well written) that's categorized as Romance, for example, only to get 2 or 3 chapters into it to find out is more angst than Romance. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with angst filled stories (though they're not my cup of tea) but at least be upfront with the reader about it. If your story has more than a passing amount of angst, then say so!_

 _Sorry about that, just needed to get that off my chest. As you can probably guess, I've been bitten by this more than once, and just had it happen to me recently._

 **Hacienda Rojos Apartment Complex**

 **San Juan, Puerto Rico**

 **Saturday, July 16 2006**

 **1300 hours**

"Anything?" Casey asked the team as the stood in the kitchen of the raided apartment. They had spent the last two hours re-examining everything in the apartment. Around him, the rest of the team shook their heads.

"Nothing." Jack said, clearly frustrated.

"This is ridiculous," Carina said. "Nobody is this good."

Casey grunted in agreement. It made no sense that other than the forged passports and bomb materials, there was nothing remaining, no DNA, no fingerprints, nothing. Sure, a full CIA or NSA cleaner team could accomplish it, but not without there having been some indication of something happening at the location, like an exterminator tenting the building, or a major painting project, or something as a cover. All of which would have been noticed by the neighbors.

"Something's not right." Casey said. "We're missing something."

"What about the neighbors?" Forrest said. "I know the files we had Chuck look at had the immediate neighbors in it but this is a big apartment complex." Jack grabbed a stack of papers and started flipping through them. After a moment, he turned to Casey.

"Do you still have that list we got off the building manager?" he asked. Casey went over to the table and flipped through another folder, pulling a set of stapled sheets out and handing it to Ryan.

"What are you thinking Ryan?" Casey asked. Jack scanned the packet and stopped at the third page. Then he looked back at the first list.

"I knew I'd seen that name somewhere before!" he exclaimed. "Take a look; according the interview sheet the police gave us, apartment 301b down the hall is rented by Jack Lansing. They interviewed him but he didn't have any information. But according to the list the building manager gave us, that apartment was rented by a Thomas Riddle. Jack Lansing rents apartment 107c!"

"So either the building manager's paperwork is screwed up," Forrest began.

"I doubt it." Carina said. "I've seen his type before, very precise, anal-retentive. No way would he have screwed up the paperwork."

"Or the police have a mole." Casey finished.

 **Highway 10**

 **Outside Juan Gonzalez, Puerto Rico**

 **1330 hours**

Aashif Alwari cursed under his breath as he saw the flashing red and blue lights of a Puerto Rico Police cruiser in his rear view mirror. His cell had been on the run since their safe house had been compromised several days earlier. They still had no idea how the San Juan Police had known they were there; it was sure luck that the cell had not been there when raid went down.

"I told Yusef it was a mistake sending me out to pick up supplies." he said. Aashif had been chosen because he was the only one of the five-man cell that did not have a record. This was his first operation. But that very fact was what made it a bad idea to send him. He had no idea how to handle situations like this. So he did the only thing that his instincts were telling him to do, he ran. Pressing his foot harder on the excelerator, his car sped off.

 **Highway 10**

 **Outside Juan Gonzalez, Puerto Rico**

Patrolman Rafael Garza cursed as the car he had been trying to pull over for a busted tail light increased speed and began weaving in and out of traffic.

 _What the hell is wrong with this guy?_ Garza thought. _It's just a freaking tail light._ Garza was relatively new to the force; this was his first high speed chase. Usually when he flipped on his lights, cars pulled over immediately. Then a thought hit him. _Oh fuck. This guy must be wanted for something._

"This is 1-Adam-12. In pursuit of a white, four door Toyota Camry traveling west on I-10. License number Alpha-One-Three-Charlie-Six-Seven. Vehicle is driving at excessive speed and erratically." He said into his radio, then after a pause "Request backup. I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Roger 1-Adam-12." The dispatcher responded. Garza continued pursuing the car for a few more moments before his radio squawked again.

"1-Adam-12, this is 2-King-14" a voice said. "I am traveling eastbound on I-10, approximately 6 miles from you. I've got two more units behind me. Additional units are blocking exits 5 & 6\. Will set roadblock with spike strip between those two exits."

"Roger 2-King-14" Garza replied. "ETA on your location at this speed is maybe two minutes." Garza continued following fleeing car. More than once the chase had almost ended in disaster as the fleeing car came very close to crashing into another car on the road, or forcing one off the road. He only hoped that the spike strip would do the job.

As they approached exit 5, the driver of the fleeing car began to swerve towards the exit, then back on the highway when he saw the roadblock blocking the exit. It didn't do him any good however, as within seconds he had hit the spike strip running across the road. The driver slammed on the brakes to stop, which Garza had been taught in the Police Academy was exactly the wrong thing to do, and lost control of the car as it spun and then crashed into the highway divider. Garza executed a stop before he came to the strip and exited his car, drawing his weapon. Ahead, several other officers were approaching the vehicle yelling instructions for the driver to get out. A quick glance showed that the driver was unconscious. In the distance, ambulance sirens could be heard approaching.

 **Safehouse**

 **Juan Gonzalez, Puerto Rico**

 **1430 hours**

"And now we go to the scene of a deadly police chase that ended on Highway 10 about an ago." the male reporter on the television was saying. A moment later the image on the screen changed and showed an attractive brunette female reporter who was standing on the side of the highway. Behind her was a wrecked car and several police officers could be seen taking measurements and searching the area.

"Thanks Dave." the female reporter said. "About an hour ago a highway patrol officer attempted to pull over a white Toyota Camry for having a busted tail light. Details are still sketchy at this point, but it appears that the vehicle attempted to flee and was pursued by numerous units of the highway patrol. The chase ended at a roadblock set up on Highway 10 when the driver lost control and crashed into the highway divider. The information we have is that the driver, a man of Middle-Eastern descent in his 20s, was unconscious and has been transported of Juan Gonzalez Memorial Hospital and is in critical condition. There is no word at this time why the driver led police on a chase over a relatively minor traffic violation."

Yusef Hussein cursed as he turned off the TV. He had been able to read the license plate on the wreck car and knew instantly that it had been Aashif. _I never should have sent him._ he thought. _It's only a matter of time before they find us. We're going to have to call off the operation._ Yusef pulled out his disposable cell phone and dialed a number from memory.

"This is Yusef. Code Blue. Requesting extraction." he said. He listened to the voice on the other end for a few moments. "Understood." he said, hanging up the phone. He turned to the other remaining members of the cell.

"Grab you E&E bags. The operation is off. We're proceeding to an extraction point in a cove about fifty miles from here." he ordered. "Sanitize the house."

About ten minutes later the team had packed up or destroyed anything that could be used to identify them or the operation, not that there had been much left over since the flight from the first safe house. Piling into the second vehicle in the garage, they soon sped off.

 **Accident Scene**

 **Highway 10**

 **Outside Juan Gonzalez**

 **1500**

"Lieutenant! You better take a look at this!" a patrolman called from near the wreckage of the car. The highway had been shut down for the last hour or so as the crime scene team had reconstructed the events of the chase and subsequent crash. Lieutenant Michelle Reyes walked towards the patrolman.

"What have you got?" she asked.

"Found this in the trunk, in the spare tire compartment." he said, handing her a small bag. She took it from him and placed it on the ground. A moment later she had it opened and was looking at the contents inside, examining them. "Oh shit. Contact Inspector Garcia in San Juan. Tell him we may have found one of the men he's looking for." Then she turned to another officer. "Lock the scene down. No one touches anything else!"

 **Undisclosed Location**

 **Unknown**

 **1500**

"It seems our proxies are no longer going to be of any use. It is only a matter of time before the authorities find them. They have asked for extraction and we have agreed." a man said, speaking into a phone. "Proceed to point x-ray and take care of it. Priority 1." After he had hung up, he turned to the others in the room.

"What about our other operative?" one of them asked.

"Unfortunately Officer Mendez is going to have to be sacrificed. We must give the authorities a reason to stop their investigation." the man said. "Contact Murdoch and tell him to handle it."

 **Apartment of Officer Carlos Mendez**

 **San Juan, Puerto Rico**

 **1600 hours**

Officer Carlos Mendez walked towards the door as he heard the impatient knocking. Glancing at the clock, he shook his head.

"She said she would be here an hour ago." he groused. "And she's got the nerve to me knocking impatiently?" Not for the first time he cursed the day he had met Sydney. When she first approached him at a San Juan bar a year ago, he had thought he had hit the lottery. She was easily the sexist woman he had ever seen. That feeling lasted only a few days, when his nightmare had begun. It turned out that Sydney represented some very dangerous people; people who needed someone inside the Puerto Rico Police. He had refused at first, until she had shown him the photographs. How they had found out he didn't know but he couldn't let his family, friends, or coworkers find out. As progressive as the rest of the United States, hell even the South, had been getting regarding homosexuality, Latin culture and police culture were still very behind the times. And so he had done what the asked. Change some paperwork here, gave a few warnings about upcoming operations there. Then a month ago, things had gotten even worse. They somehow got him transferred to the department's Anti-Terrorism Task Force. And demanded he use his new position to help aid them in planting a terrorist cell in San Juan. It was then he decided that enough was enough. Except they had anticipated his change of heart. They presented him with recorded evidence of all his transgressions committed in their service, along with a number of forged items for things he hadn't done. Then there was the pictures of his mother and sister. They assured him that should he try to back out, that both would be killed slowly and the most horrible way. So he had done what they asked.

"Hold your horses, I'm coming." he said. A moment later he reached the door and opened it. "It's about time you got here."

"Really Officer Mendez? Do I need to remind you who is in charge here?" Sydney said with a smirk as she stepped through the door. "Perhaps we need to remind you what will happen to your mother and sister?" Carlos' shoulders slumped in defeat; he knew she was right. Instead of lashing out like he wanted, he turned and walked over towards his couch.

"You win." he said. "What is it that you need me to do -" His sentence was cut off as he felt a small prick in the back of his neck. He spun around to see her holding a small needle. He opened his mouth to say something when darkness crashed in around him.

 **White Orchid Cove**

 **Fifty Miles from Juan Gonzalez, Puerto Rico**

 **1700 hours**

Yusef looked at his watch again, frustrated. His contact had promised that a speed boat would be here an hour ago to extract his team. The whole operation was turning into a disaster. First the initial safe house had been compromised, then Aashif had gotten himself injured and captured. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't hear the silenced shot that killed him. Moments later, the rest of his cell was laying on the ground next to him.

Hidden in the jungle several yards away, a man dressed in black smirked to himself as he lowered his rifle. It had been almost too easy. The cell hadn't even bothered to do an adequate job of securing the area. It was a good thing his employer hadn't really wanted to extract them. Standing up, he broke down his sniper rifle and placed it into his backpack. He then walked towards the bodies on the ground. After spending several minutes removing any items his employer didn't want found, and planting others he did want found, he moved off into the jungle, careful to erase his presence as he went. Once safely in the jungle, he pulled out a secure sat phone and dialed a number.

"This is Decker." he said. "It's done."

 **Casa Bartowski**

 **Echo Park**

 **Saturday, July 16 2006**

 **1830 hours**

"So Chuck what are your and Sarah's plans since your project finished early" Ellie asked. She, Devon, Chuck, Sarah, Alex and Morgan were seated around the the Bartowski kitchen table, having just finished dinner. To Chuck's surprise, when Ellie had heard that Morgan and Alex were back together, she had insisted that Chuck invite them to dinner. It had come as a slight shock to Chuck to find out that Morgan had grown on Ellie and Devon over the last few years. Ellie had always tolerated Morgan but now seem to consider him a friend as well as Chuck's friend.

"Well, we talked to our Commanding Officer (C.O.) earlier and were able to get a couple days leave." Chuck said. "So we were going to stick around until Tuesday." Ellie let out of squeal of happiness.

"I'm so glad!" she exclaimed. "Devon and I have the next three days off too! That means I can actually see my baby brother!" Chuck and Sarah exchanged grins; they have predicted this response.

"Actually, Chuckster, that's more awesome than you know." Devon said, looking at Ellie. She smiled and nodded, obviously answering an unasked question. "We've been kicking around an idea but we weren't sure if or when we could do it. You know how important you are to your sister and you're like a brother to me so we didn't want to do it if you couldn't be there-"

"Oh for God's sake, Devon. What he's taking forever to say is that we decided we're done trying to plan this stupid wedding. It's too much work. So we were thinking of going off to Vegas for a quick ceremony. But we wanted you to be there. Now that we know you'll be here for the next few days, we'd like to drive out there tomorrow." Ellie said, interrupting him. "You and Alex are invited as well, Morgan, if you're free."

Chuck and Sarah exchanged looks that functioned as a silent conversation.

 _What do you think?_ Chuck seemed to ask with his.

 _Sure. We'll have to check in with Harper, but I don't think he'll have an issue._ Sarah's look responded. Nodding, Chuck turned to his sister.

"We'd be honored, sis." Chuck said, grinning. "But that's a long drive to go back and forth in a day. Don't you and Devon have work on Monday?"

"We do," Devon answered, "but a couple of our co-workers owe us a favor. It wouldn't be an issue to switch shifts."

"I'm pretty sure I can get Big Mike to give me a day or two off." Morgan said. "How about you babe?"

"I already have tomorrow off." Alex said. "I can probably get Monday off too."

"Vegas here we come!" Devon said excitedly.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Author's Note: I'm baaaaaack! Sorry for the long wait for a new chapter. I'm hoping to not have such a long drought between chapters from here on out.**_

 _ **To those of you who asked in your reviews of the last chapter, I don't think I'm that old (only 37) but I do love retro television shows, hence the reference to the show Adam-12 in the last chapter. It is actually available on Netflix, and I highly recommend it...so much better that the crap that passes for cop shows today.**_

 _ **Anyway, this chapter will see some pretty significant Charah action, both of the spy variety and the romantic kind. After this chapter I will be skipping ahead a little in the timeline and we will get to see more of Team Bartowski battling Fulcrum, and other villains.**_

 **Sunday, July 17, 2006**

 **Maison23**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **0700 hours**

"Any further leads on who offed the cell?" Sarah asked. The members of Team Bartowski were meeting via video conference to go over the events in Puerto Rico yesterday.

"Nope. Other than the name Sidney Prescott, who this Officer Mendez was seeing, we have no leads." Casey said. "And she seems to be a ghost; no one can remember much about her. A handful of his co-workers seem to vaguely recall seeing her briefly at different times but nothing else."

"Sidney Prescott?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah." Casey said. "Did you flash?" Chuck shook his head.

"No." Chuck said. "But that name is one I know. That's the lead character in the Scream trilogy." At the blank looks from the rest of team, Chuck continued. "Scream? High school students stalked by a masked killer who turns out to be two loser film geeks looking to commit the perfect crime and get revenge for the affair the lead character's mother had with one of their fathers'? Come on people! It was a mega-hit!"

"God you are such a Nerd!" Carina said over the comm link. "How did you become a badass Marine, Chuckles?" The rest of the team laughed.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Jack exclaimed. "That name on the apartment list! Thomas Riddle. That's from Harry Potter! That's Voldemort's real name!"

"Oh dear, God. I'm surrounded by Nerds." Casey groaned.

"Two names associated with fictional characters?" Sarah said. "Why would anyone in their right minds use aliases from popular culture?"

"Well, for one, I think it's obvious that it's not so outlandish." Alexandra said. "After all, none of us, or the cops, made the connection other than Chuck and Jack."

"True." Casey said, reluctantly. "I also think it was a message. They're fucking with us - well the intelligence community as a whole. They know that that likelihood of most of us picking up on something like this would be slim. But at the same time they know that eventually someone would figure it out."

"Fulcrum?" O'Day asked.

"Maybe." Harper replied. "Although it's a bit out of style for them. What about the officer's family?"

"Both the mother and sister were found by NYPD a few hours ago, dead. Cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the head, execution style. The bodies were dumped in the river." Price said. "No physical evidence on the bodies, so no leads."

"Damn." Harper said. "Obviously whomever was behind this jihadi cell has cleaned up their mess. I wonder if the cell even realized they were being used?"

"Probably not." Chuck replied. "First, the very structure of most terror cells means that they very rarely have direct knowledge of their superiors. Under the right circumstances, an outside source would have no trouble highjacking a cell. Second, the mission was to kill Americans; most of the types that end up in the cells aren't that bright to begin with. Full of blood-lust and ego. As long as the mission they were given jived with their worldview, it wouldn't have raised their suspicions."

"Ok. Well, there's nothing more we can do right now." Harper said. "I've requested the local FBI, law enforcement, and other agencies keep us in the loop if they discover anything else. And just to be sure, they're each going to be getting a phone call from both the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security. Casey, I want you and your team to return to Quantico." Casey nodded.

"What about us?" Sarah asked.

"As of the moment, I don't see a reason for you to return early. Your team has the next 48 hours off." Harper said. "In light of Chuck's impending family nuptials, I've arranged for a secure suite in Vegas for the team. Tell Ellie that you arranged for transport back to the East Coast from there."

 **Sunday July 17, 2006**

 **Casa Bartowski**

 **Echo Park**

 **Los Angeles, CA**

 **0830 hours**

"So are we all taking one car?" Morgan asked. He and Alex had just arrived at Ellie's apartment a few minutes earlier and were sitting at the dining room table drinking coffee with Ellie, Devon, Chuck and Sarah.

"I don't mind if everyone rides with us." Ellie said. she owned an Infiniti JX-35 SUV that could seat six.

"Actually sis, Sarah and I are going to drive our rental." Chuck said. "Since we're going to be in Vegas, we decided to change our return flight and leave out of Nellis AFB."

"Why don't you just return your rental here and we'll drop you off?" Morgan said, eagerly. "I've always wanted to go to Nellis." Chuck rolled his eyes; he knew Morgan's eagerness to drop him and Sarah off was related to the plethora of UFO conspiracy theories surrounding the base and its connections to the so-called Area 51.

"Yeah Chuck, why not?" Ellie said "It would be a lot of fun all of us driving together."

 _Shit._ Chuck thought. _I should have saw this coming. How the hell do I get out of this one?_ Luckily, Sarah was prepared.

"Sorry guys." She said. "First, the current security posture at most bases means you wouldn't be allowed on. And second, well, let's just say that I have a couple of side activities that I want to do with Chuck on the way that we wouldn't be able to do if we all rode together."

"What could you possibly want to do that you couldn't -" Alex started, then stopped as realization hit her, a blush creeping onto her face.

"Road sex! Awesome!" Devons said, high-fiving Sarah and Chuck, who were both now blushing.

"Anyway." Ellie said, trying to steer the conversation away from her brother's sex life. "That's fine. Morgan and Alex can ride with us. We need to decide where we're going to stay."

"Actually, sis, I've already taken care of that." Chuck said, going with the pre-arranged plan. "I got us all rooms at the Venetian." Ellie's eyes widened.

"Chuck, that's pretty expensive!" She said.

"No problem Ellie." Sarah said. "Consider it a wedding gift from us. Besides, we can get discounted rates since we're military."

"Thanks Sarah, Chuck." Ellie said.

"So should we get going?" Devon asked. With that everyone got up and after putting their used coffee mugs in the kitchen sink, grabbed their bags and exited the apartment.

 **Sunday July 17, 2006**

 **Interstate 15**

 **Outside of Barstow, CA**

"So that was good thinking with my sister." Chuck said, looking at Sarah. Chuck was seated in the passenger seat of the rental car, Sarah having insisting on driving for the first leg of the road trip. Ellie, Devon, Morgan and Alex were about a hundred yards in front of them. Ness and Burton had left an hour ahead to secure the route and the hotel. O'Day and Price were following Chuck and Sarah at a discreet distance.

Sarah grinned back at Chuck. "Thanks." she said, reaching over to him with her right hand to gently stroke his leg. "But I hope you realize I wasn't just making an excuse not to ride with them."

"Sarah...I thought we agreed to wait!" Chuck said.

"We did you big goof." Sarah said. "But it hasn't stopped us from doing other things. And I plan on continuing that process on this trip."

 **Sunday July 17, 2006**

 **Interstate 15**

 **Outside Primm, CA**

"Son of a bitch, there they go again!" Price exclaimed. "I thought it was just an excuse they were using not ride with his sister." She was sitting in the passenger seat of their government sedan, watching the tracker that was on Chuck and Sarah's car. This would mark the third non-gas, non-bathroom break stop that the couple had made. Next to her in the driver's seat, O'Day chuckled.

"Looks like they're real dedicated to maintaining the cover." O'Day said grinning before turning slightly more serious. "Seriously though, I'm glad to see them happy. From what Casey, Jack and Carina have said, neither one of them have had an easy life and they've both been hurt bad in the past. They deserve to be happy. Besides, you've seen them; if ever there were two people made for each other it's those two."

"Ah, well aren't you the romantic." Price said smirking. "But you're right. They seem to complement each other. And they're definitely some of the best partners I've ever worked with. So when do you think their own wedding bells are going to happen?"

"Heck if I know." O'Day said. "I do know Carina's keeping book on it though. I hear even Harper placed a bet."

"I bet Walker's going to love that when she finds out."

 **Sunday July 17, 2006**

 **The Venetian**

 **Las Vegas, NV**

 **1530 hours**

Chuck and Sarah arrived at the hotel about an hour after Devon, Ellie, Alex, and Morgan. While Chuck was checking them in, Sarah called Ellie to let them know they were there. Plans were made to meet in the lobby at 1600; Ellie and Devon needed to go to a jewelry store to pick out rings and wanted Sarah and Chuck to help them. Afterwards they would meet up for dinner with Alex and Morgan before heading to the Wedding Chapel.

"We're all set." Chuck said walking over to Sarah. Together they walked towards the bank of elevators just off of the Lobby, rolling there small Samsonite suitcases behind them. Sarah pressed the button to go up. A minute later one of the elevators opened and they stepped in. Unusually for the time of day, they were the only ones in the elevator. Once the doors closed, Chuck reached over and pressed the button for their floor.

"The room number the desk gave me matches what Harper gave us at the briefing. O'Day, Price, Ness and Burton have the rooms on either side of us. They all interconnect." Chuck said.

"What about Morgan and Alex?" Sarah asked.

"Across the hall." Chuck said.

A soft ding indicated that the elevator had arrived at their floor. When the doors opened they exited and turned to the right, walking down the hall, before stopping at their room. Chuck slid the electronic card key into the lock and opened the door. The two agents stepped inside and closed the door.

The room was more accurately a two-room suite. The main sitting area had a couch, two chairs, a large screen tv and a bar. Off to the directly behind the sitting area was a door leading to the bedroom which featured an in-room jacuzzi for two, a king sized bed, and a small bathroom.

"Hey guys." Burton said walking through the connecting door to the room next door on the right, with Ness following behind. "About time you got here."

"Maybe if the hadn't pulled off to play 'hide the salami' so many times they would have been, said Price walking in through the connecting door to the room next door to the left, with O'Day following behind. Chuck and Sarah blushed slightly.

"You're just jealous Price." Chuck said.

"Alright enough about our love life." Sarah said. "We have to meet Ellie and Devon in the Lobby in 20 minutes. They want to go pick out their rings."

"They have a destination in mind?" O'Day asked.

"They want to go to 'The Jewelers of Las Vegas'. Apparently it's owned by the family of one of Devon's frat brothers." Sarah answered.

"What about dinner and the ceremony?" Price asked.

"We're going to meet Morgan and Alex at B&B Ristorante in Restaurant Row for dinner." Sarah said.

"Devon and Ellie have a reservation at the Treasure Island Wedding Chapel for 1930." Chuck added.

"Well, since O'Day and Price had to babysit you during the ride here, we'll take over protection for the jewelry trip." Burton said.

"And we'll check out the chapel." O'Day said.

 **Sunday July 17, 2006**

 **The Jewelers of Las Vegas**

 **Las Vegas, NV**

 **1645 hours**

"What do you think of this one?" Ellie asked, pointing to a white gold men's wedding band. The foursome had been looking at wedding jewelry for 45 minutes. Most of that time had been spent looking for Ellie's ring. They had only just started looking for Devon's.

"I don't know babe." Devon answered. "I'm not really a white gold fan."

"Great." Chuck muttered to Sarah. "And here I thought things would speed up now that Ellie had finally picked a ring." Sarah chuckled softly.

"I know." Sarah whispered. "This is getting ridiculous. You told me they've been engaged for a while; I would have thought that they would have looked at rings before, at least enough to know what they liked. I know I already know the type of ring I want when we get married."

"Oh really, Sarah." Chuck said, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you forgetting a few steps...like an engagement?" Sarah blushed, embarrassed. She hadn't meant for that come out like that, especially now. Truth was, she had come to the conclusion that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Chuck. But they had both agreed to take thing slow. She was afraid that if she told him, it would cause him to panic.

Before she could say anything to recover, a shout at the entrance to the store grabbed her and Chuck's attention. Two men, both dressed in suits and ties, carrying shotguns had just walked in and knocked the guard by the door unconscious. Sarah almost missed the sign of a flash on Chuck's face, only catching it out of the corner of her eye. The taller of the two pointed his shotgun in the air and fired a round.

"Everybody freeze!" he shouted. "This is a robbery!" Pandemonium broke out as customers screamed. Another blast took out a display case. "Quiet! Or the next one goes in someone!"

The shorter of the two moved forward from where he had been removing the guard's pistol, tucking it into the front of his trousers. He pointed his gun at the customers and employees.

"Everybody move to the center of the store and sit down!" he ordered. Quickly the 15 people in the store moved towards the center of the store, which was open and sat down. Chuck and Sarah took a spot next to Devon and Ellie near the back of the group. Chuck looked over at Ellie; she looked completely freaked out. He flashed her a quick smile to reassure her.

"Chuck, did you flash?" Sarah whispered, just low enough for Chuck to hear, while in the background the the robbers were ordering the patrons to remove their wallets and jewelry. As he reached for his wallet, Chuck responded.

"Yeah. Sarah we're going to have to do something. These are the Gecko brothers." Chuck said. Sarah gasped; the Gecko brothers were an extremely violent pair of robbers who usually left a trail of bodies wherever they went.

 **Sunday July 17, 2006**

 **Across the street from The Jewelers of Las Vegas**

 **Las Vegas, NV**

 **1700 hours**

"This is taking forever." Jason Burton complained as he lowered his binoculars. He and Samantha Ness were providing overwatch and surveillance for Chuck and Sarah while they went shopping with Devon and Ellie. "How long does it take to pick out rings?" Next to him, Samantha chuckled.

"Obviously you've never been married." she said.

"Hey, it's not my fault." Burton said. "You know how it is, this job is tough on the social life; even before we joined this outfit." Ness nodded in agreement. The long hours and being on call 24/7 did make the life of a law enforcement officer difficult in the romance department. Add to those things the danger involved in the job, and it became very hard. She was just about to respond when she noticed Burton tense up.

"Shit!" Burton exclaimed, reaching for his radio. Ness looked towards where his eyes were looking, and saw the two men in the store, one of them knocking down the guard. "This is Nightshade, we have a situation at our location. Looks like a robbery but I'm not sure. Omaha 1 and Omaha 2 are inside. Roll local PD; tell them there are two undercover Federal agents inside, and put a tactical team on standby!"

 **Sunday July 17, 2006**

 **The Jewelers of Las Vegas**

 **Las Vegas, NV**

 **1705 hours**

"Shit." Sarah whispered. Though her and Chuck were both armed, using their weapons presented two problems. First, there were a number of people between them and the Geckos; there was always the possibility of someone getting hurt if they engaged in a shoot out. Second, doing so would result in them having to at least partially blow their covers. There would be know way to simply pass off being armed as no big deal to Chuck's sister.

While Sarah was thinking of a plan, the shorter of the two Gecko brother's began walking around, collecting valuables into a bag, while his brother covered the group. Once he was done, he moved off and started smashing jewelry cases, scooping up merchandise.

"We need to get closer to them." Chuck whispered.

"I know, but how?" Sarah asked.

"You two, in the back!" shouted the taller of the brothers, "What are you talking about?"

"Uh..Uh nothing." Chuck said, playing the stuttering insecure nerd he use to be.

"Come here. Now." he said. "You too blondie." Chuck and Sarah exchanged brief glances; this might be the break they needed. If they could just get close enough to get the taller of the Geckos, they might have a clear shot at the shorter brother. Slowly they stood up and made their way towards him. Once they were about three feet from him, he ordered them to stop. Meanwhile, his brother had made his way to the display cases on the side of the store to the right of where Chuck and Sarah were now standing.

Suddenly police sirens were heard racing towards the bank. A moment later two black and whites skidded to a stop outside the bank.

"Shit! The cops!" the taller Gecko said, shouting to his brother. The shorter of the brothers ran over to his brother.

"How the fuck did they get here this fast?" he said. For a moment, the two brothers took their eyes away from Chuck and Sarah and the hostages. Chuck and Sarah looked at each other; this was the opening they needed. They gave each other a slight nod and sprang into action.

Moving almost as one, both Chuck and Sarah took one step forward and using their hands knocked the barrel of the shotguns out of the line of fire (each in the opposite direction of each other) at the same time pivoting towards the gun, grabbing the just behind the trigger guard and rolling the gun upwards so the stocks hit each of the brothers in the face, knocking them back, then wrenching the guns away. A moment later both Chuck and Sarah had taken two steps back and had the shotguns pointed at the brothers.

"Don't move!" Chuck shouted. "Get on your knees! Hands interlocked behind your head!" The two brothers, stunned from the quick turn of the events, hesitated.

"I'd do what he says, assholes!" Sarah shouted. "I won't hesitate to blow your fucking heads off!" Both brothers slowly did as they were told; still stunned that someone had gotten the drop on them.

 **Sunday July 17, 2006**

 **Treasure Island Wedding Chapel**

 **Las Vegas, NV**

 **1930 hours**

"You may now kiss the bride." The wedding officiant said, as Devon and Ellie embraced and Chuck, Sarah, Morgan, and Alex clapped their congratulations.

Chucked grinned as he watched his sister and her new husband. Both he and Ellie had come a long way. When their mom and dad had first run off, neither brother or sister could have imagined that they would have made it the point in their lives they were now at. Not many people, abandoned by their parents, would have not only managed to keep themselves together and out of the social services system, but then for one of them to go to medical school and become a doctor, while the other went to Stanford and everything that Chuck had done since, was almost a miracle. He was thankful that Ellie had found Devon; Chuck had liked the man almost from the moment he met him for the first time. And he liked how his sister had grown since she started dating Devon.

Glancing to his side, his grinned widened a little more, watching Sarah. Before her, he had thought he would never find someone he loved as much as he had loved Jill. But what he had felt for Jill paled in comparison to what he felt with Sarah. Despite his best efforts to not fall to far, too fast, he knew without a doubt that battle was over. He wanted nothing more than to full engage in their relationship. Especially after today.

Chuck's mood slipped a little as he remembered the events in the jewelry store. They had been incredibly lucky. The quick police response once Jason had alerted the LVPD to the situation had given Sarah and him the needed distraction at just the right time. If not for that, there was a good probability that he or Sarah would have been injured at the very least. Of course, even their success had caused some problems. To say that Ellie was beside herself over what went down was an understatement. His ears were still ringing from the shouting that had occurred after they had all been released from the scene.

Chuck sighed; his sister was still acting like it was her duty to wrap him in bubble wrap. Though he and Sarah (and Devon) had vigorously defended their actions, Ellie still saw it as her baby brother being put in danger. And Chuck knew that Ellie's campaign to get him to leave the Marines was going to kick off full blast again as soon as the wedding high wore off.

 **Sunday July 17, 2006**

 **The Venetian**

 **Las Vegas, NV**

 **2200 hours**

"Well that was an interesting day." Chuck said as he slumped down onto the couch. Next to him, Sarah was also relaxing.

"You aren't kidding." Sarah said. "I'm not sure what was more harrowing, the robbery attempt or Ellie's lecture to us afterwards."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Chuck said, embarrassed. "Ellie means well but she still sees me as her little brother that needs to be protected. Don't get me wrong; I love her and appreciate the concern, but sometimes I just wish she'd not at like i'm eight."

"I think it's sweet, in a way." Sarah said. "You think she's going to turn up the pressure about leaving the Marines?"

"Probably." Chuck said. "But even if it wasn't for the Intersect and what we're doing, I wouldn't want to leave the Marines. But getting Ellie to accept that is going to be difficult." Sarah leaned over and gave Chuck a quick kiss.

"Don't worry Chuck, I've always got your back. Even with Ellie." Sarah said. Sarah noticed a pensive look pass on Chuck's face. "What's wrong, Chuck?" Chuck looked at Sarah and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"Sarah, I need to tell you something that's been on my mind all day." Chuck said. Sarah reached out and grabbed his hand and gave him an encouraging smile.

"Go ahead Chuck; you can tell me anything."

"Thanks." Chuck said. "Look, you know I'm crazy about you; head over heels really. But it's more than that. Sarah, I am completely, hopelessly in love with you. I know we said we'd take things slow, and I'll go with any pace you want, but I need to say this. You are my end game. I don't care how long I have to wait, but I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I knew it weeks ago; but after today and what happened, I decided I couldn't go another day without letting you know, even if nothing comes of it right now."

Tears began trickling down Sarah's face as Chuck spoke. Unbeknownst to him, he was giving voice to the same feelings she had been dwelling on for several weeks and most notably, since the robbery earlier in the afternoon. She leaned forward and captured Chuck's lips in a passionate kiss. A moment later, she broke off.

"Oh Chuck." she said, lovingly. "I feel the same way; I have been fighting wanting to just scream it out to you for weeks too. I was afraid if I said something, it would chase you away. The truth is I was jealous as hell during the wedding ceremony. I wanted it to be us." Chuck's smile instantly made Sarah's heart swell even more that his speech had. "Don't get me wrong; I don't think I'm ready to run to the wedding chapel right this second, but you're my end game too Chuck."

"So if I want to marry you, and you want to marry me, I guess this means we're...engaged?" Chuck asked.

"Yes." Sarah said, smiling. "Though I don't think we should broadcast it beyond the team, just yet. After all, you just introduced me to Ellie; I think we need to let her get use to the idea that she's not the only woman in your life now, not to mention we need to figure out how to get her off your back about your career."

"Yeah, you're right." Chuck said, then stood up. "But that doesn't mean we can't still get you a ring." Sarah stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Ok, but not tonight." Sarah said, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "There's something much more important we need to do tonight to celebrate."


	15. Chapter 15

_Author's Note: As promised, I'm back with a new chapter and I didn't make you wait nearly as long as I did for the last one. In fact, I wrote this sitting by the pool on a cruise to Bermuda._

 _As stated earlier, the story will be jumping forward a few weeks at this point._

 **August 14, 2006**

 **Home of NSA Director Diane Beckman**

 **2130 hours**

General Diane Beckman sighed as she poured herself a glass of Johnny Walker Blue Label whiskey and took a sip. She was sitting on a couch in her study, where she had arrived an hour before.

" _God what a day it's been."_ Beckman thought, taking another sip. " _Scratch that, what couple of months it's been."_ Once again the joint Intersect Team had managed to uncover and stop another Fulcrum plot. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. In the two months the team had been operational, they had foiled two Fulcrum plots, captured the most wanted pair of thieves in the country in the Gecko brothers, broke up a major cocaine smuggling ring, and stopped a lone-wolf style Al Qaeda attack in Cleveland. By all measures, the project was succeeding beyond expectations.

Normally, one would think that having a top-notch team that was highly effective would be cause for celebration on the part of the NSA Director. And to be sure, she was excited about the results. She had spent her entire adult life in uniform, dedicated her life to defending the country, most of it working for the NSA. But while she might be happy with the results, she was not happy about the way it had come about.

" _Damn you Graham."_ Beckman cursed to herself. " _If Graham hadn't been so focused on building his own private little army of agents, we might have had an Intersect all along; one that we controlled entirely."_ That was the crux of her dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. Graham's machinations had come home to roost last year. On the plus side, it had led to the identification of Bartowski as a viable Intersect host. But it also led to what Beckman thought was a negative that would eventually lead to disaster; namely, the removal of the Intersect project from strictly CIA/NSA oversight to include other agencies and the military, as well as the expansion of the team. The original Omaha plan had envisioned an Intersect agent partnered with/protected by two partners. Instead, the team now numbered over two dozen (including support personnel). All totaled, the number of people involved with the program who were completely read in or who had significant knowledge was almost eighty once you took into account the various agencies, the President, Joint Chiefs, and their advisors. Beckman was convinced that it was only a matter of time before something leaked.

" _Which is why it should have been kept strictly under the CIA/NSA."_ She thought. That way they would be able to better limit those who had knowledge. Additionally, she was not happy about the relationship amongst the team. She had always encouraged some camaraderie amongst her agents, but within reason. At the end of the day, the mission and her orders had to come first, with no significant emotional attachments. Unfortunately, under its present structure and oversight, Team Bartowski was not being held to those standards. It was clear that in general, the team members had become much more than friendly co-workers. Not to mention the one confirm romantic relationship with in the team and two more that she suspected were forming.

"Can I get you anything else, General?" Roger, her butler/cook asked. As a flag officer, not to mention agency director, Beckman had a small personal staff, including Roger, a maid, and a small security detail that were assigned to her home.

"No thank you Roger." She replied. "You can go home. I'll see you tomorrow."

 **August 14, 2006**

 **Outside of Home of NSA Director Diane Beckman**

 **2145 hours**

NSA Security Officer Albert Medina waved at Roger Miles, the Director's butler, as he drove past his post at the gate of the driveway. Medina was one of about two dozen security officers assigned to protect the NSA director, with six agents being on duty at all times. One of his counterparts was always on duty in the house, with the other four stationed throughout the grounds. He had been on this detail for two years now. While some of his fellow officers decried the boredom of the assignment, as there hadn't been a serious attempt on a sitting NSA director in two decades, Albert was glad for it. He had spent the first half of this fifteen year NSA career in some of the more "exciting" places in the world, and he was over it. Headlights startled him out of his musing. Looking at the approaching vehicle, he recognized it.

"All stations be advised, it looks like Roger forgot something, he's turned around and is coming back." he reported into his radio.

"Roger Medina." NSA Security Officer Michael Johnson, the shift supervisory agent replied. "We'll keep an eye out for him."

Albert raised his hand to stop the car and walked around to the driver side, bringing his flashlight up to the window.

"Did you forget some-" he started, then fell off as three silenced shots were fired from the driver's side and he fell to the ground. The driver - not Roger - got out of the car, ski mask already in place. He pulled out his own radio.

"Eagle two to Eagle one. Gate secured." he reported. Then he opened the trunk of the car and dragged Albert's body to the trunk and tossed it in on top of the rapidly cooling dead body of Roger Miles.

"Eagle One to all Eagles, execute!" Bryce Larkin ordered over the radio. A moment later two SUVs pulled up the gate and a dozen armed men, all wearing ski masks, jumped out.

 **August 14, 2006**

 **Home of NSA Director Diane Beckman**

 **2145 hours**

NSA Security Officer Cynthia McMasters was the newest member of the NSA Director's protective detail and it was her turn to man the small command post inside the director's home. She heard Albert's radio call concerning Roger returning and smiled. The Director's butler had a history of forgetting things. More than once he had returned only minutes after leaving because of it. She took a sip from her coffee. As she did so, she glanced at the bank of monitors and saw Albert get shot, followed by the arrival of the SUVs.

"All units! We have a breach at the gate! Albert's down. A dozen armed intruders entering the grounds." she shouted over the radio. "Instituting lockdown!" Standard procedure was to lock the house down via a sophisticated security system, then take the director to a safe room to either await the all clear signal from the agents on the grounds, or the arrival of backup. Cynthia hit the lock down button as NSA agents appeared on the monitors making their way towards the gate. She then stood up and pulled her service weapon and ran to the stairs to get the General to the safe room.

When she arrived at the General's den, she found Beckman was already on her way out of the room, her own service weapon in hand.

"What's going on?" Beckman asked.

"Intruders assaulting the gate, ma'am. Cynthia replied. "They got Agent Medina." Beckman closed her eyes for a moment and said a quick prayer.

"Damn." Beckman said. "Let's get to the safe room." Cynthia nodded and began walking back down the stairs, taking point. Outside, the flashes of firearms could be seen in the windows. "Has the rapid response team be notified?"

"Yes ma'am. As soon as the lockdown was initiated." she replied. Once on the first floor they then made for another door that led to the basement and began descending. Once in the basement they walked towards a non-descript door on the south wall. Walking up to it, Beckman pushed a button and a hidden palm scanner appeared.

"Watch those steps while I get this open." Beckman said, turning back to the palm scanner. She was about to put her right hand on the scanner when she felt a prick at the back of her neck. She gasp and turned to see Cynthia holding a Twilight dart in her hand. Beckman tried to bring her gun up, but collapsed before she could.

 **August 14, 2006**

 **Outside of Home of NSA Director Diane Beckman**

 **2155 hours**

The firefight outside Director Beckman's house lasted mere minutes. Though the NSA agents assigned to detail were heavily armed and well trained, there was simply too many attackers. After ten minutes the four agents were dead, along with six of the assailants. Two of the remaining made their way to the exterior basement door and banged on it. A moment later it opened and Cynthia appeared.

"She's out." she said. The two men nodded and disappeared into the basement as she exited. A moment later they reappeared carrying the General. They carried her back over to the SUVs and after securing her, put her in one. Then they climbed back into the SUVs, including Cynthia, and drove off.

"Did you disable the automatic distress signal?" Bryce asked from the front passenger seat of one of the SUVs.

"Yes, Agent Larkin." Cynthia said. "I disabled it as soon as Roger left. The next scheduled check-in with the rapid response team isn't for another hour."

"By which time, we'll be in the air and far away from here." Bryce said, grinning. "I love it when a plan comes together."

 **Blue Ridge Apartment Complex**

 **Apartment of Chuck Bartowski**

 **Outside of Stafford, Va**

 **20 minutes from MCB Quantico**

 **August 14, 2006**

 **2345 hours**

Chuck awoke to the sound of us and Sarah's cell phones going off. Upon their return from Las Vegas, the couple had decided to move in together. They still hadn't told the team about their engagement, preferring to keep it to themselves for awhile. Chuck rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he picked up the phone and read the text message. Next to him, Sarah had awakened and was looking at her phone.

"Oh shit." Both agents said in unison.


	16. Chapter 16

_Authors Note:_ _And I'm baaaaack! Here is the next installment of Chuck vs Semper Fi, where we'll see what happens to Beckman now that she's in the clutches of Fulcrum, as well as some more action involving Team Bartowski. Also, if you haven't already read it, please check out my one-shot story 'No Such Thing as Second Chances' which is my first (and probably only) foray into Chuck angst/tragedy. Depending on the response that story gets (and how long it takes me to finish this story), I've already got an idea in mind for another multi-chapter story that uses the concept of 'No Such Thing as Second Chances' as a starting point but quickly moves out of the angst/tragedy genre into lots of happy Charah fluff._

 **Team Intersect Headquarters**

 **AKA Castle**

 **MCB Quantico**

 **Quantico, VA**

 **Class IV Secure Conference Room**

 **August 15, 2006**

 **0100 hours**

Chuck yawned and rubbed his eyes. When word had come of Beckman's kidnapping, Harper had ordered both teams into Intersect Headquarters immediately since the information and the details surrounding the kidnapping were so sensitive. Both teams were now gathered into the facilities Class IV Secure Conference Room, listening to Harper discuss the information known so far.

"The security footage from the General's home told us a lot actually." Harper said, "Most importantly the fact that they had help. It looks like one of the agents on the protection detail was a Fulcrum plant. She was just placed on the team two months ago. While the Fulcrum tactical team assaulted the gate and took out the external security, she disabled the automatic distress beacon that should have alerted the rapid response team and got the drop on the General once they headed towards the safe room."

"Any idea on who the Fulcrum operatives were?" Casey asked.

"Unknown." Harper said. "The assailants were masked the entire time, and every piece of video footage we've been able to get both from the house's security system and nearby cameras shows the same thing; nothing but masked men. Even the plates on the vehicle's don't match anything."

"Can we see the footage?" Chuck asked. "Maybe there's something there the Intersect can get a hit on." Harper nodded to Lacey Pearce, one of the team's technical support analysts. She typed a few keys on keyboard in front of her and a moment later, the screen at the front of the conference table flickered to life and began playing the security footage from General Beckman's home. The team watched the video, with both Chuck and Sarah at different points sitting up straighter in their chairs and looking intently at the screen.

"Nothing from the Intersect." Chuck said, "but I thought I saw something. Can you back it up to right before they put the General into the SUV?"

"What is it Chuck?" Jack asked.

"I'm not sure. I thought I saw one of the Fulcrum operatives make a gesture towards one of the cameras." Chuck said. A moment later the video started to play from the requested spot. "There! Freeze that!" The video froze at the requested frame and everyone looked at it. On the screen, one of the masked Fulcrum operatives could clearly be seen making a gesture towards the camera.

"What the heck is he doing?" Carina asked.

"It's a Klingon salute." Chuck said, quietly.

"A what?" Harper asked.

"It's from Star Trek." Jack replied. "The Klingons are a race of warrior aliens. That's how they salute. It's based on the old Roman salute; just slightly modified."

"Which means that whoever is in that video is a nerd." Chuck said.

"Could this be connected to the Puerto Rico case?" Casey asked.

"Possibly." Chuck said. "Which is disturbing in its own right, never mind the situation with the General. If Fulcrum has managed to get in a position to hijack terror cells, we may be in bigger trouble than we think."

"There is something else." Sarah said. "Something was bothering me as I was watching the footage. The tactics used by the assault team seemed, familiar somehow. I mean beyond the standard familiarization one would expect regarding general tactics used by various groups and agencies. But Chuck pointing out that salute is what jogged my memory. I've seen someone do that before during an operation. Which led to me remembering an off-the-books operation that Graham had me run a few years ago. This operation looks almost exactly like that one, minus the inside operative. My partner during that operation was Bryce."

"Well, that settles the question of whether this and Puerto Rico are connected." Chuck said.

"You mean Larkin-" Masden started. A snort from Casey stopped him.

"No." Casey said. "Puerto Rico was too intricate and subtle for Larkin. It might very well have been Fulcrum but not Larkin."

"Casey's right." Chuck said. "Even in college when it came to pulling pranks on other fraternities and on sororities, Bryce's plans while elaborate, we're not very subtle."

"I agree." Sarah said.

"Alright." Harper said. "Casey, first thing tomorrow I want you to take your team and do another pass over at Beckman's home, in case something was missed. Chuck, I want your team to start looking for indications on how they got the General out of the metro DC area and where they might have taken her."

"Yes sir." Casey replied.

"You got it boss." Chuck said.

"One last thing. Until we find the General, we are on Red Alert. Keep sharp. And no one goes home; when we're not in the field chasing down leads we live out of here. Just in case. Chuck, I'm also arranging for a team to shadow Ellie, Devon and Morgan. I'll want you to look over their files before we send them."

 **Fulcrum Underground Bunker**

 **Location Unknown**

 **August 17, 2006**

General Diane Beckman winced as her interrogator punched her in the stomach. She had awoken 36 hours ago to find herself in a cell in what appeared to be an underground bunker. She had been stripped of her uniform and placed in a pair grey sweat pants and a white t-shirt. Her feet and hands had also been shackled. For a full day she had seen no one, not even a guard. Then, that bastard Larkin had come to pay her a visit.

 _Begin Flashback_

" _Well, well, well. If it isn't the esteemed General Beckman." Bryce said, smirking as he stood outside her cell. "I trust you're comfortable? We don't want you injured – well, at least not yet."_

" _What do you want Larkin?" Beckman replied defiantly. "Whatever it is, I'm not giving it to you."_

" _Come now, Diane." Bryce said. "Everybody talks –you know that. As for what I want, my employers have heard rumors that you've restarted the Intersect project. They want to know if that's true and if it is, all the information you have on it. Especially the location of the upload facility. You see, they want to create their own. Then, they're going to upload it to me and I'm going to make the CIA pay for how they treated me."_

" _I don't have any idea what you're talking about." Beckman responded, all the time cursing whatever security leak had allowed Fulcrum to get those rumors._

" _Ooh, a challenge." Bryce said, smirking even more. "You REMFs are always going on and on to field agents about dying before giving anything up – I've always wanted to see if any of you would actually hold up to the same standards you've held us to."_

 _End Flashback_

They had come several hours later, the interrogation team that was apparently assigned to her. And she had very quickly realized that she was in real trouble. They were utilizing every tactic in the book, using physical violence and sleep deprivation combined with sodium penathol and a polygraph. Having been trained as an agent when she was younger, Beckman of course was familiar with the methods of interrogation and how to resist them. But she also knew that at the end of the day everyone broke. Whether or not the broken prisoner gave the interrogator accurate information or what the interrogator wanted to hear was largely determined by the balance of physical violence and other methods used. Too much physical violence often led to the later result. But although the interrogation had only been on-going for a short time, she could tell this team was very experienced. Which meant it would be only a matter of time. Her only hope was that her people would find her before it came to that.

"I have to say Diane, you surprised me." Bryce said, stepping forward from the corner where he had been watching. "I was sure you'd crack faster than an egg. Maybe you aren't such as bureaucratic dinosaur after all." Beckman spit blood on the ground.

"Best time I've had...in years." She wheezed, displaying more bravado than she felt. "Though your men...hit like a bunch...of five year old girls. A moment later she winced again as Bryce backhanded her across the face.

"Don't get cocky, General." Bryce said. "You will break. One way or another."

 **Nine hours later**

 **Same location**

"Report, Agent Larkin." The Fulcrum Director ordered over the secure video link.

"The General is proving more intrepid than we thought." Bryce replied. "She'll break eventually."

"And how long will that take?" The Director asked. "We need that information. All our plans depend on it."

"Unknown." Bryce said. "More than likely it will be another day or so before she'll answer basic questions. More detailed questions will probably take longer."

"Anyway to speed this up?" The Director asked.

"We're doing everything we can -" Bryce started to say, stopping as a faint memory came to the surface.

"What is it, Larkin? You've obviously thought of something." The Director said.

"There was a rumor going around CIA about the General and the instructor of Seduction at the Farm, Roan Montgomery. I don't know for sure if it's true, but it was pretty prevalent. And the details of the rumor were the same no matter who told it." Bryce said. "Maybe we can use him as leverage."

The Director smiled. "An excellent idea. Though with all of DC on alert it will be tough getting to him like we did Beckman. This is going to take some finesse and subtlety." The Director said. "I know just the agent to send."

 **Team Intersect Headquarters**

 **AKA Castle**

 **MCB Quantico**

 **Quantico, VA**

 **Class IV Secure Conference Room**

 **August 18, 2006**

 **1700 hours**

"Nothing!" Chuck shouted, slamming the laptop closed in frustration. "How the Hell could there be no trace of them?" The team had managed to track Larkin's team to Pittsburgh but after that the trail had gone cold.

"It would appear that either Larkin is more proficient at this than we thought or he had help." Price said.

"We have to be missing something." Forrest said. "How long do you think Beckman will last?"

"Depends on what techniques they're using." Carina said. "Most agents can go 3-5 days without answering anything. Getting specific and truthful information usually takes longer. Though if they're using multiple techniques at once, it could be less."

"Beckman's tougher than she looks." Casey said. "They might get confirmation that the Intersect project is restarted but there's no way that she'll give up who is on the team or where we're based."

"Good thing she never married." O'Connor said, joining the conversation. She and Lt. Parker had walked into the room several moments earlier. "After all, that would be one big piece of leverage-"

"Sonofabitch!" Casey and Sarah exclaimed almost simultaneously. The rest of the team looked at them in confusion.

"Beckman does have someone."" Sarah said.

"There's nothing in the Intersect." Chuck said.

"Yeah, well, that's not surprising." Harper said. "I've suspected for some time that Beckman was holding back information; I thought she was keeping enough tidbits back to try and pull some bureaucratic Kung Fu to try and get more control over the program. If she did that, it stands to reason that she would also keep out information that might be used against her."

"But how do they know?" Chuck said.

"I don't for sure." Sarah said. "But there was a rumor going around the CIA about her and Roan Montgomery, the seduction instructor at the Farm. And as one of Graham's enforcers, Graham was a little less reserved around me. I overheard him a couple of times talking. Nothing too specific, but enough to make me think their might be more to the stories than just rumors."

"I was Beckman's protegee at one time." Casey said softly. "So I was around her more than most. Needless to say I saw and heard things."

"You were Beckman's protegee?" Sarah asked. "What happened?"

"Let's just say her and I had a slight disagreement about what constituted a lawful order." Casey said. It was clear from his tone of voice that he didn't want to talk about it.

"Ok people. Enough gossiping." Harper said. "If there's even a chance that it's true, then we need to get him into protective custody."

"Or we could use him as bait." Carina said.

"Absolutely not." Harper said. "That's not how we do things here, Miller. Get over to Montgomery's residence, and bring him back here. We'll set up surveillance and if Fulcrum goes near his home, we'll grab them." Chuck glanced at his watch.

"At this time of day, it's going to take 45 minutes to get there by car." Chuck said. "I suppose we could take a chopper."

"No, it would attract too much attention." Harper said, then turned to Pearce. "Tap into any security and traffic cameras in the area, and task a drone to maintain surveillance."

 **En Route to Roan Montgomery's Home**

 **20 minutes later**

Team Intersect was racing towards Roan Montgomery's residence outside of Fredericksburg, Virginia in four custom SUVs.

"What's our ETA?" Casey asked Jack, who was driving.

"Another 20 minutes." Jack responded. "Any word from our eye-in-the-sky?"

"Negative." Lacey Pearce said over the commlink. "No sign of-SHIT! I've got eyes on five subjects exiting the apartment building, one of them clearly against their will. Zooming in for facial recognition." Seconds rolled by. "It's Montgomery. He's being put into an SUV. Kidnappers are getting in as well; three men, one woman."

"Dammit!" Casey said.

"Pearce, can you send the images to my PDA?" Chuck, riding in another SUV asked.

"Coming at you." she responded. A minute later the images came through on Chuck's PDA.

"Recognize any of them?" Sarah asked from the driver's seat.

"No. Nothing in the Intersect on the three males. Let me check out the picture of the woman." Chuck replied, tapping the screen. "Her image is a little blurry. Trying to clean it up to get a better-" Chuck suddenly stopped talking. Looking over at him, Sarah was surprised to see a look of shock on his face.

"What is it Chuck?" she asked. "Do you know who she is?" Chuck shook himself out of stupor and turned to Sarah.

"You could say that." he replied. "You remember the girl that Bryce stole from me in college? This is her. Jill Roberts."


	17. Chapter 17

_Author's Note: Aaaand we're back, finally. Thanks for all your patience, I know it's been awhile since I updated this story. I hope you all have been enjoying the first three chapters of my newest story "There Is Such Things as Second Chances"._

 _I've been considering ending this story soon, and then writing a sequel, as opposed to dragging the story on and on. But first I need to decide on a good stopping point. The most logical idea would be to try and wrap up the Fulcrum arc (which would probably take another couple chapters) and leave the secondary arc (the as yet unidentified person or group responsible for the events in Puerto Rico several chapters ago) for the sequel._

 **En Route to Roan Montgomery's Home**

 **August 18, 2006**

 **1725 hours**

"That bitch is Fulcrum?" Sarah said incredulously.

"Apparently." Chuck said. "What disturbs me is she's not in the Intersect. Makes me wonder what else isn't in there."

"We can worry about that later, Chuck." Harper said of the comms. "Looks like the their vehicle is heading north on I-495."

"Should we intercept?" Casey asked.

"Negative." Harper said. "As much as I'd like to ram them off the road and let you interrogate them, I don't think we have enough time. Even without them bringing Montgomery to wherever they're holding Beckman. Pearce, can your drone follow them for much longer?"

"At least another two hours, boss." Pearce replied. "I've got another one I can task if needed - should give us coverage for another five hours."

"Ok. Continue tracking and vector the team towards them." Harper replied. "Make sure you stay far enough away to not spook them, Casey, Chuck. We'll follow them to wherever they're going and get the both of them back."

"Roger boss." Casey replied.

"Not to be a downer." Carina said, "But aren't we strapped a little light if we're hoping these guys will lead us to the Fulcrum facility where they're keeping Beckman."

"I'll have tactical assault gear loaded on a chopper standing by. As soon as we have a target, I'll get it to you." Harper said.

 **One hour and forty minutes later...**

 **Near Chambersburg, PA**

"Heads up team." Harper said over the radio. "Our targets have just turned into Rocktop Airport. They're heading for a hangar on the far end."

"The hangar is registered to Linda Coffee Inc." Pierce said.

"Lindo Coffee?" Jack said. "Why is that setting alarm bells off in my head?"

"It's owned by Ernesto Escobado, head of the Escobado Carel." Carina interjected. "Obstenisbly, it's a legitimate business but the DEA and the Colombian government have long suspected he uses it to launder money. But no one's ever gotten close enough to prove it."

"That's because Escobado's head of security is a real pro." Chuck said. "According to the Intersect, Felix Cortes has been working for Escobado for several years."

"Cortes? That no-good lousy pinko-commie scumbag is still alive?" Casey interjected. "I thought Castro punched his ticket after the disaster in Angola a few years ago."

"He apparently managed to evade the hit squad sent after him." Chuck said. "Looks like Escobado hired him on the free market."

"Wasn't there some sort of trouble for Escobado about a year ago? Some sort of turf war?" Jack asked.

"Yeah." Carina answered. "The Hernandez Cartel tried to make a play to take over. It got pretty bloody, but in the end, Escobado won."

"Yeah, but he lost a lot of people in the process." Chuck said. "But if what I'm seeing from the Intersect is any indication, I think Cortes might have been one of those killed."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"Escobado's been in virtual seclusion since then. On top of that, there's zero reports or indications of Cortes since then. So either he's dead or in hiding." Chuck responded.

"Well, it that's the case it would explain why Escobado would be looking to take up with Fulcrum." Casey said. "He'd need a new security blanket."

"And Fulcrum gets a steady stream of money to finance their operations." Forrest broke in.

"Shit." Chuck said.

"Shit is right." Harper said. "We've managed to get the flight plan for the plane they just got on. It looks like it's headed to Autana Municipality in Venezuela"

"Venezuela?" Casey said incredulously.

"Makes sense." Carina said. "Escobado's main stronghold prior to the fight with the Hernandez Cartel was the region of Colombia bordering Venezuela."

"And according to the Intersect, there's been some chatter about Fulcrum activity in Venezuela over the last couple of months." Chuck put in. "Not enough to raise any flags in relation to General Beckman's kidnapping, but add what we know now and I think we have our target."

"Ok. Head to Harrisburg International Airport. The 193rd Special Operations Wing of the Air National Guard is based out of there. I happen to know the Wing Commander." Harper said. "I'll arrange for transport for you, and make the necessary contacts with our friends down south."

 **Fulcrum Blacksite**

 **Autana, Venezuela**

 **August 20, 2006**

 **2100 Hours**

"Raider 1, this is Raider 2. We're in position." Chuck whispered over the team comes. He and the rest of his team had taken up position at the edge of the jungle on the west side of the suspected Fulcrum base. Team Intersect had arrived in Colombia the day before. True to his word, Harper had used his contacts to get them access to the border and had even managed to get a small force of Colombian troops and members of the the underground opposition forces to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to help quarantine the area while Team Intersect assaulted the base. The facility was bordered on the south by a rather large river, making escape in that direction impossible for the enemy. To the North, members of Seal Team Six (having been vetted by Chuck through the Intersect) had taken position to cut that route of, and if needed, provided backup.

"Roger Raider 2." Casey said. He and his team were on the east side of the facility. At first glance, it seemed like a typical jungle settlement, complete with a primitive airstrip. However, closer inspection it was apparent that this was anything but. After several hours of observation they estimated that there were probably between 30-40 Fulcrum personnel, including Jill. "Have you tapped into their system yet?"

"Yeah." Chuck replied. He had been using his ruggedized field computer to hack the perimeter security system and, then the facilities internal security feed. "I've located both Beckman and Montgomery; they're being held on the third underground level, in two adjoining rooms. I see three Fulcrum agents in each room with them. Larkin is in with Beckman and Jill is in with Montgomery. We better hurry. I don't have audio, but from the looks of it they've worked both over pretty good and from the agitation Beckman is showing, I don't think she's going to last much longer."

"Ok. Everyone get your balaclavas on and turn on your voice modulators. Until we have everyone of the enemy secure, we can't let them see who we are." Casey ordered. "We go in two minutes."

 **Meanwhile…**

 **Inside Fulcrum Underground Bunker**

 **Level 3**

 **Autana, Venezuela**

 **August 20, 2006**

 **2100-2102 Hours**

Beckman winced as she watched the television feed she was being shown, unable to look way due the the multiple restraints currently holding her in place. Her hell had reached a new level twenty-four hours earlier when Larkin had entered her cell and smugly informed her that Fulcrum had captured Roan Montgomery and that he was in the next room. He then informed her that since she wouldn't talk, they would have to try and pry the information out of Roan. Of course the bastard was well aware that Roan didn't have the information he wanted; this was leverage to try and get Diane to break.

Diane cursed herself mentally; she had been a hypocrite and broken the cardinal rule she had preached to all her agents and gotten emotionally attached to someone. And now he was being put through the most vile torture. She was close to the breaking point; she knew she should hold out but she couldn't take listening to his screams any longer.

"Stop." She said, her voice broken. "I'll tell you what you want to know." Bryce smiled and walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver.

"Hold up." He said into the receiver. "The general has decided to be reasonable." He then hung up the phone and turned back to Beckman. On the television feed, the torture of Roan had stopped. "Now then, where were we? Oh yes. Has the Intersect project been restarted?"

"Yes."

"Has it become operational?"

"Yes."

"Who is the host?"

"The host is-" Beckman started to answer but was interrupted when the lights went out.

 **Meanwhile…**

 **Just outside entrance to Fulcrum Bunker**

 **Autana, Venezuela**

 **August 20, 2006**

 **2102 Hours**

Sarah kicked the M4 assault rifle that the guard at the elevator had been carrying away from his body. Behind her, the rest of Chuck's team was doing the same to the two guards at the entrance to the building. They had been taken out by silenced shots from dual M40A3 Sniper Rifles wielded by Casey and Parker.

"Raider 1, this is Raider 2. Building secure." Chuck reported.

"Roger Raider 1. We're moving in." Casey said, and then called the SEAL team. "Raider 3, advance and watch our backs."

"Affirmative Raider 1, we've got you."

Casey's team moved from their cover and began moving towards the building where Chuck's team was. Like Chuck and his team, they were all dressed in US Marine MARPAT-style camouflage uniforms, without any accompanying identification markings, a brown balaclava obscuring all but their eyes, Night Vision Goggles, and tactical assault vests. Each member of the team carried a Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre-Herstal (FN Herstal) Five-Seven pistol firing 5.7 x 28 mm rounds strapped to their thigh, and an FN Herstal P90 TR rifle as their primary weapon. Both Casey and Frank carried a Marine Corps M40 Sniper Rifle strapped across their backs. After approaching the building, Frank and Jack took up guard positions at the front door.

"You two stay here. Keep an eye out for the SEALS and any surprises that might be out there." Casey ordered, then turning to the rest of Team Intersect, said "Remember, first priority is getting Montgomery and Beckman out of here. Second is the capture of Larkin and Roberts. We need them alive. So only kill them if you have no other choice. You got that Bartowski, Walker?"

"Don't worry, Casey. We know our jobs." Sarah answered coldly, then under her breath. "Though how injured they're going to be when we take them back, that's another story." Next to her, Chuck chuckled. A moment later the team was on the move.

 **Inside** **Fulcrum Underground Bunker**

 **Level 3**

 **Autana, Venezuela**

 **August 20, 2006**

 **2102 Hours**

"What the hell?!" Bryce exclaimed, drawing his side arm. He turned to the two guards in the room with him. "Watch her." He then moved to the door and went into the hall, meeting Jill as she exited the other interrogation room, also with her side arm drawn.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Generator failure?"

"I doubt it; the backups should have kicked on by now." Bryce responded. "No, something else is going on." He reached for the radio clipped to his side. "Security, what's going on?"

"This is Post 2-A! We have intruders in the facility!" a voice responded. "They're on the second level heading for-" The voice was cut off as a barrage of gunfire sounded and then silence.

"Shit!" Jill said. "Is there any way out of here?"

"There's an emergency escape tunnel, but the entrance is one level up." Bryce responded. "But it sound like that's already –" Bryce never had a chance to finish his sentence as the doors to the elevator shaft blew open and four figures emerged. Both Bryce and Jill brought their guns up to fire, but before they could pull the triggers, two of the intruders had already fired a quick burst from their P90s, catch each of them on the in the arm and chest, causing them to drop their guns and collapse on the floor.

Chuck, Sarah, Price and O'Day moved forward slowly, watching both Bryce and Jill and the doors to the interrogation rooms alertly. Suddenly both doors to the interrogation rooms opened and the four remaining Fulcrum operatives burst into the hall, firing.

"Shit!" Sarah said, dropping to her knee and returning fire, the rest joining her. Seconds later, the four Fulcrum guards were dead.

"Everyone okay?" Chuck asked, checking himself over.

"One of the bastards caught me in my vest." O'Day said, grimacing. "It didn't penetrate – that God for this new armor."

"I'm fine." Price said.

"Me too." Sarah said.

Standing up, the group continued to move towards Jill and Bryce. When they reached the two fallen Fulcrum agents, Price and O'Day cuffed the two and checked their vitals while Chuck and Sarah covered them.

"They're still alive." Price said, standing up as she and O'Day went to check on the guards. A moment later she shook her head, indicating that all four were dead. A moment later the foursome was joined by Burton and Ness.

"Casey reports the rest of the opposition is down." Ness said, motioning with her weapon towards the upper floors.

"Ok. You and Burton stand watch over the prisoners. Price and O'Day, you check that room, Sarah and I will check this one."

 **Inside Fulcrum Underground Bunker**

 **Level 3**

 **Interrogation Room 1**

 **Autana, Venezuela**

 **August 20, 2006**

 **2110 hours**

Beckman sat, restrained to her chair, trying not to let her relief and hope overwhelm her. She had just been about to break and spill the beans on the identity of the human Intersect when the power had gone out the facility, causing Larkin to leave the room. Moments later there had been an explosion and gunfire, which caused the two guards still in the room with her to move out into the hall. She heard, rather than saw, them get cut down. Then there was relative silence, nothing more than muffled conversation in the hall. Her heart pounded loudly; she thought she knew who was in the hall but didn't want to get ahead of herself. Even if it was her rescuers, the shame of knowing what she had been about to do was keeping her from feeling as relieved as she should. She was startled out of her thoughts when the door to the room opened and two figures moved in, their faces obscured.

"You ok, General?" one of the figures, clearly female asked, though her voice sounded disguised, as she moved around behind the chair and produced a knife and began cutting the restraints.

"I am now." Beckman responded. "Roan?"

"Agent Montgomery is being looked to as we speak." The other figure said. "Think you can walk out of here?"

"Yes." Beckman replied standing slowly, examining the two figures closely. "Can I ask which of Team Intersect you are?" The two figures exchanged looks and shrugged. According to the reports from the rest of the team, all the Fulcrum personnel had been captured or killed and the internal surveillance had been brought down before the assault. As one, they pulled their balaclavas off.

"Miss us, General?" Chuck said smirking.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

 **Sickbay**

 **Team Intersect Headquarters**

 **MCB Quantico**

 **Quantico, VA**

 **August 21, 2006**

 **0900 hours**

"How is he?" General Diane Beckman asked from her bed in the Team Intersect Sickbay, situated on the opposite side of the room from where her lover and CIA agent Roan Montgomery was laying in his bead, unconscious.

"He's stable." Dr. Cathy Mueller responded, in not quite a hostile tone, but one that was definitely not as detached as she normally would be with a patient not a member of the team. She was well aware of the General's reputation, in part thanks to her husband Jack, but also from the stories she had heard from other members of the team. "He suffered significant injuries during his torture, but I expect him to make a full recovery, physically. I'm keeping him heavily sedated at the moment to give his body time to heal."

Beckman let out a sigh of relief; the past few hours since her and Roan's rescue from the Fulcrum facility had been nerve-wracking. Between her worry for him and the growing shame at the realization that she had been moments away from spilling one of the most closely guarded and important national security secrets there was, she had been a wreck. It didn't help that the people who saved her were the very same people she had been about to sell out.

"Thank you." Beckman said, sadly. "It's my fault he's in the condition he is in. I broke the cardinal rule – don't fall in love. If I hadn't-"

"Don't thank me, General." Cathy replied, cutting her off. "My team is the one you should be thanking. They're the ones that figured out where Fulcrum was keeping you. The very team you fought against forming. As for the rest, that's bullshit. Do you want to know how they pulled it off? The only reason you're alive is because of your relationship with this man in this bed. They each knew enough snippets of information and rumor to put together the fact that you and Agent Montgomery were an item. So they were on their way to get him when he was grabbed. And they were able to get a surveillance drone to follow his kidnappers. So while yes, your relationship might have endangered him, it was also your relationship that saved you both."

"She's right Diane." Thomas Harper said, having walked into the Sickbay during Cathy's tirade. "And frankly, it was the best outcome, considering. Oh, not that Roan was so badly hurt. But if it wasn't for that relationship, you still would be in the hell-hole, being tortured, and you still would have almost broken. The difference is, we wouldn't have been able to get the team there in time."

Beckman shook her head vehemently. "No. You don't understand. If they didn't have that leverage over me-"

"You wouldn't have almost sold us out." Harper said. At Beckman's shocked look, he continued. "We recovered the internal surveillance video from before the team cut the feeds. We know everything."

"I see." Beckman said, resignedly. "And I assume you're now going use it to get me out of the picture."

"Actually, no." Harper said. "That's not how I do things. Besides, you didn't get a chance to give the team up; we got there in time."

"But we would appreciate you getting off your high horse and backing off." Chuck said, entering the Sickbay, Sarah at his side.

"Why would I do that?" Beckman said. "If anything this incident proves how dangerous flouting the rules regarding interpersonal relationships between agents."

"That's crap and you know it, General." Chuck said, taking Sarah's hand. "First of all those rules have absolutely nothing to do with the danger to agents getting involved with one another. It's a control measure; you're afraid that if agents form close personal relationships, whether as friends or lovers, that they won't be blind obedient servants. Well guess what General? The last thing you need is that! Look what happened with Graham. Besides, you're military. You should know the value of building close bonds and how that helps operational efficiency."

 **Briefing Room**

 **Team Intersect Headquarters**

 **MCB Quantico**

 **Quantico, VA**

 **August 21, 2006**

 **1000 hours**

"How are Beckman and Montgomery doing?" DNI Makin asked over the videoconference line. The entirety of Team Intersect was gathering in the Briefing Room, with DNI Makin, DHS MacGregor, AG Jones, and CIA Director Foley appearing on the videoconference line.

"They're recovering." Harper replied. "Beckman got off relatively unscathed; mostly bruises and dehydration. She does have a couple of cracked ribs but according to Dr. Mueller they should heal fine. She should be fit to return to duty in a couple of days."

"And Montgomery?" Director Foley asked.

"His situation is a little more serious." Harper replied. "He sustained numerous broken bones, puncture wounds and electrical burns. Dr. Mueller has him sedated at the moment, to give his body more time to heal. She estimates he'll need to be sedated for another 72 hours. After that, she thinks he should be physically fit for duty in 3-4 weeks."

"I'll arrange for him to get set up with an Agency Psychiatrist when he's released." Director Foley said. "I won't put him back on active status until I'm satisfied he's mentally recovered as well."

"I'll arrange the same for Beckman as well." DNI Makin said. "Now that that's taken care of, I think I speak for all of us when I say good job team. Have you started going through the data recovered from the Fulcrum base?"

"Our IT specialists are going through it now." Masden said. "It was heavily encrypted, so it's going to take some time to decrypt."

"Once they do I'll take a look at it and see if anything tickles the Intersect." Chuck said.

"We'll all take a look." Sarah said. "After all, the Intersect isn't infallible. There's always a chance one of us might remember something that isn't in the Intersect."

"Good. Hopefully, we'll get a lead on the location of Fulcrum's Headquarters." AG Jones said. "Or their other operations or some of their personnel."

 **Apartment of Chuck Bartowski and Sarah Walker**

 **Blue Ridge Apartment Complex**

 **Outside of Stafford, VA**

 **20 Minutes from MCB Quantico**

 **August 21, 2006**

 **1900 hours**

Sarah sighed in contentment as she sat on the couch, cuddled into Chuck's side. After the mission debrief, the team had been told to stand down until for the evening. She and Chuck had come back to the apartment and had an early dinner. Afterwards they had placed a movie in the Blue-ray player and settled in for a relaxing evening.

Reflecting over the last couple of months, Sarah could honestly say that she had never been as happy as she was right now. She loved being on Team Intersect. It was even better than when she was on the CATS. Though the CATS had been close, it was nothing compared to the friendships she had developed since being assigned to Team Intersect. Then of course there was her relationship with Chuck. If someone had told here a year ago that she would have found the man of her dreams and be engaged by this point, she would have told them they were crazy.

"Penny for your thoughts." Chuck said, kissing the top of her head.

"Just thinking of how lucky I am." Sarah said, kissing him briefly. "I've never been more happy than I am right now. And a big part of the reason is you."

"I know what you mean." Chuck said. "I feel the same way. I can't wait to marry you and spend the rest of our lives together."

"When should we tell the team? And your sister and brother-in-law?" Sarah asked.

"I figure we can tell the team anytime we're ready." Chuck replied. "Ellie and Devon are another matter entirely." Chuck sighed, and then continued speaking. "When we were in LA, my sister ambushed me about my future plans with regards to the Marines. She started a hard press for me to get out when my tour is up. I managed to get her to back off, but when she finds out we're engaged, she's going to come hard at me – and you."

"And we can't very well tell her the truth about what we do." Sarah said, sighing. "Maybe it won't be as bad as you think." Chuck laughed.

"No, it'll be worse. She wasn't happy with me enlisting in the first place. She's been subtly pushing for the last several years for me to get out and move back home. This past time was the most direct." Chuck said. "It's like she's been living in a fantasy world ever since Mom and Dad left. One where her and I would always live together or close by, never straying far from where we grew up."

"Has Ellie ever gone to counseling?" Sarah asked.

"No." Chuck said. "I know it was recommended to her but as far as I know she's never gone. Of course, I can't exactly throw stones. I've never gone either – unless you count a few talks with Father O'Brien. Truth is, before you, he's the only one I ever felt comfortable opening up to. But as good as he is, he's not a full time therapist."

"Well, I'm in the same boat. Until I met you, I've never wanted to talk to anyone." Sarah said. "Maybe we can look up Father O'Brien and go see him together? After all, it's better then nothing."

"Sure. And maybe I can talk to Devon and get him to help getting Ellie to see someone." Chuck said. The two sat in silent contemplation for a few moments before Sarah reached for the remote and turned the movie off. "Hey – why'd you do that?" Smiling, Sarah stood up and grabbed Chuck by the hand and pulled him towards the bedroom.

"Because right now there's another kind of therapy I could use." She said with a smirk.

 **Office**

 **Unknown Location**

 **August 21, 2006**

 **1930 hours**

"Were you successful?" the middle-aged Russian asked the man standing in front of him.

"Yes." The American replied. "I was able to plant the information on the Fulcrum base's servers. It will look like it was native to their system." The Russian smiled.

"Excellent." He said. "How long do you think it will take them to decrypt it?"

"Given what I know about the NSA, I'd say three to five days."

"Good. Make sure everything is in place. The moment they move on our friends in Fulcrum, I want to make sure we get our hands on as much of Fulcrum's research and money as we can." The Russian said.


	19. Chapter 19

**_Author's Note:_** _Here is the long-awaited latest chapter of this story. I anticipate that there will be at most two more chapters before I wrap this up. I do have plans for a sequel, but it will most likely be awhile before I get to it. I want to concentrate on my other story, There Is Such Thing As Second Chances for a bit, and I'm working on another Chuck fan fic that I hope to share in the next couple of months._

 **Chapter 19**

 **Chapel**

 **U.S Naval Academy**

 **Annapolis, Maryland**

 **August 22, 2006**

 **1330 Hours**

"Chuck my boy! I can't tell you how glad I was to get you're call!" Chaplain (Lieutenant Commander) John Patrick O'Brien, USN said jovially, as he stood up from the desk in his office and walked around to shake Chuck's hand. "And who is this vision of loveliness?"

"Father, I'd like you to meet Sarah Walker, my fiancé," Chuck said, introducing Sarah.

"You're getting married? It's about time you moved on with you life!" Father O'Brien said, and then turned to Sarah, shaking her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Walker. Any woman who can get Chuck out of his terminal bachelorhood must be very special indeed."

"Please, call me Sarah." Sarah said. "It's a pleasure to meet you Father, Chuck speaks very highly of you."

"Well, I should warn you, Chuck's been known to exaggerate a bit now and then," Father O'Brien said, chuckling. "Please sit down." Chuck and Sarah took a seat on a couch in the small sitting area in his office, and Father O'Brien settled into a chair across from them.

"So now, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Chuck? From your phone call this morning, I get the feeling it wasn't just to share the good news about your engagement."

Chuck and Sarah looked at each other, before Chuck finally started speaking.

"Sarah and I both have some unresolved issues from our childhood and our careers that we need to work through, Father." Chuck said. "And frankly, there's nobody I trust to talk to about them other than you. It helps that I know you've got a Top Secret clearance." At this, Father O'Brien's eyebrows rose.

"Why do I have a feeling this is going to take a while?" he said.

 **Team Intersect Headquarters**

 **MCB Quantico**

 **Quantico, VA**

 **August 23, 2006**

 **2030 hours**

"Any progress?" Harper said as he entered the room where the team's IT specialists sat. A young Asian-American woman turned to answer him.

"Not yet, sir." Himeko Nakatomi replied. "Whoever Fulcrum hired to do this encryption was world class, sir. It'll probably take at least another three days."

Harper sighed. His initial euphoria over the team having been able to retrieve the mountains of data from the Fulcrum base servers was starting to wane. This was the part of the job he hated; the waiting for actionable intelligence to be found.

"Keep me informed," he said, turning and leaving the room.

"Hey Himeko, you've worked with the Boss before this, he always this tense?" one of the junior specialists asked from his station.

"Yes." Himeko responded. "He's never been very good waiting around. Especially when he can sense we're closing in on an adversary."

 **Home of Jack Ryan and Dr. Cathy Mueller**

 **Peregrine Cliffs**

 **Calvert County, MD**

 **August 26, 2006**

 **1900 hours**

"Dinner was delicious, Cathy." Sarah said, putting her wine glass down. She and Chuck had been invited to Jack and Cathy's home. With the threat board currently cleared, and the analysts still working on decrypting the Fulcrum servers, Harper had decided to give most of the Operations Team a 48-hour break.

"Thanks Sarah." Cathy said. "I don't get to cook for someone other than Jack that often. Glad to know I haven't lost my touch."

"So, Chuck, Sarah, you guys set a date yet?" Jack asked, grinning at the shocked faces of Chuck and Sarah.

"How...how did you know?" Chuck asked, stunned. "We haven't told anyone, not even my sister."

"Chuck, have you forgotten what I was like as your CO?" Jack said. Chuck groaned.

"Chuck?" Sarah asked.

"Jack is one of those people that was destined to work for either the CIA, NSA or FBI." Chuck said. "He always knew what was going on with the guys in our platoon, even if we tried to hide it. He's a lot like my sister; seems to have an instinctual sense when someone is hiding something."

"So, you never answered his question, guys," Cathy said.

"Not yet." Sarah replied. "We've been trying to figure out how to tell the team. And Chuck's sister."

"Well, don't worry about the team." Jack said, laughing. "Everybody's pretty much been expecting it since the first day."

"Were we that obvious?" Chuck asked.

"Yes." Jack said. Chuck and Sarah both blushed, mortified. "Anyway, as much fun as it is to tease you guys, that's not what we wanted to talk to you guys about."

"You know that my family isn't very happy about me marrying Jack." Cathy said. "They think I should be marrying another Doctor or Wall Street investment banker. Needless to say, I doubt they'll be showing up for the wedding. So I was wondering, Sarah, if you would be willing to be my Maid of Honor?"

"I'd be honored." Sarah said. "But are you sure?"

"Yes." Cathy said. "Even though this team has been together less than a year, you all feel like family."

"And Chuck, I'd like you to be my Best Man." Jack said.

"I'd love to do it," Chuck said.

 **Team Intersect Headquarters**

 **MCB Quantico**

 **Quantico, VA**

 **August 30, 2006**

 **1400 hours**

"Eureka!" Himeko shouted, throwing her arms up in victory.

"I take it by the shouting you have good news?" Harper asked, walking into the room.

"Yes sir. We just broke the encryption on the Fulcrum servers." Himeko said.

"Good. Start running everything on it against our files." Harper said. "Also, set up a feed to the conference room with the data. Chuck and the team will also be taking a look at it."

"Will do boss." Himeko said. "I have to warn you though, there's mountains of data on the servers. It'll probably take them awhile to go through it all."

 **Office**

 **Unknown Location**

 **August 30, 2006**

 **1430 hours**

"So I was wrong." The brown-haired American said, walking into the office. "It took them a couple extra days to break it."

"Oh?" Alexi Volkoff, head of Volkoff Industries said. "And how do you know this?"

"Easy, I placed a reporting bug on one of the servers. I couldn't have it do anything other than send a brief signal when the encryption was broken, otherwise they'd detect it," the American said.

"How long until they move against Fulcrum?" Alexi asked.

"Hard to say." the American responded. "To be fair, there's terabytes of data on those servers, and I had to at least make it look like they were trying to hide the data files that had the location of Fulcrum's main base. I'd say a week at minimum before they find the info, then at least another week before they mount any sort of operation."

"Is everything in place for when that happens?"

"Yes, Alexi. Everything is in place. We'll be able to grab a significant portion of Fulcrum's money and research."

"Good." Alexi said, smiling. "You know, when you came to me all those years ago with this plan, I wasn't sure we'd be able to pull it off. I'm glad to see I was wrong. Recruiting you and your wife was the smartest decision I ever made."

 **Apartment**

 **Unknown Location**

 **August 30, 2006**

 **1700 hours**

"How did the meeting with Alexi go?" the middle-aged American woman with long black hair asked when her husband walked into the door. He walked over and pulled her into a kiss. A moment later, they pulled apart.

"Good. He still thinks we've done all this for him." he said, smiling. "In two to three weeks time, he's going to get the surprise of his life."

"And then you and I will be able to move forward with the rest of our plan." the woman said, matching his smile.

"The CIA and NSA are going to pay for what they did to us."


	20. Chapter 20

**_Author's Note:_** _Well, here we are. This will be the final full chapter of Chuck vs Semper Fi, and will be followed by a brief Epilogue. It's been a great privilege writing this story for all of you and I do have a sequel planned, eventually. But I will be taking a break from the universe I've created for Semper Fi to concentrate on my other story, There Is Such Thing As Second Chances_ , _for a while. Additionally, I'm working on another unrelated Chuck story which I hope to publish in a few months._

 **Chapter 20**

 **Team Intersect Headquarters**

 **MCB Quantico**

 **Quantico, VA**

 **September 5, 2008**

 **1500 hours**

"Ok people, what have we got?" Harper asked as he walked into the conference room where all of Team Intersect was assembled. After the analyst section had broken the encryption on the servers from the Fulcrum base from which the team had rescued General Beckman, they had spent the last six days pouring over the data.

"Between the Intersect and other sources we've managed to identify a half-dozen Fulcrum facilities, including their main headquarters, as well as two dozen front businesses and organizations. All and all we've also ID'ed nearly 100 Fulcrum operatives and associates, and about two dozen secure bank accounts." Casey reported for the team. "I highly doubt we've found everything there is, but what we do have should be enough to shut them down for good."

Harper whistled. He had been hoping that the data on the servers would prove to be such a gold mine, but he had prepared himself to be let down.

"Locations of the facilities?" he asked.

"They've got two R&D facilities, in Los Angeles, and Chicago," Chuck said. "Believe it or not, one of them is Roark Industries. It also is the most significant of their front businesses. Besides those two, they have a training facility in Nevada, and two others, in Pennsylvania and Oklahoma. The biggest prize is their headquarters, which is an underground facility in New Mexico."

"Alright," Harper said. "I hope nobody has any plans for the rest of the weekend, because we're going to spend it putting together a plan to take these targets down, simultaneously."

"Boss, that's gonna require a heck of a lot more manpower, and firepower, than we have." Jack injected.

"Tell me something I don't know." Harper replied, grinning slightly. "I've got a few contacts that I can reach out to; Chuck has already cleared them, and obviously anyone else we bring in on it will have to be vetted."

 **Office Adjacent to the Chapel**

 **US Naval Academy**

 **Annapolis, MD**

 **September 11, 2008**

 **1000 hours**

"You sure about this, Jack?" Chuck asked his former CO and team mate. He and Jack were currently occupying a side room of the main Chapel, Jack dressed in a Tuxedo, while Chuck was wearing his Blue Dress 'A' uniform, complete with the traditional Mameluke sword.

"Yeah, Chuck, I am. Cathy and I want to do this before the mission." Jack replied. "Besides, it's not like we haven't been planning this, sort of, for months. If I'm worried about anyone it's you and Sarah. After all, you just officially announced to the team you were in engaged two days ago. Not that it was much of a surprise."

Jack's statement was an understatement. True to what he and Cathy had said at dinner at their house more than two weeks ago, no one on the team had been surprised. Hell, there apparently had been a pool going, on when they would announce.

"Trust me Jack, we're both sure. Like you guys, we want to make it official before we move on Fulcrum, Chuck responded. "Just in case."

"What about Ellie and Devon? And Morgan? Don't you want them to be here?"

"In a perfect world, sure. But there's not really any time. And besides, if I called them up and had them come out here, Ellie would pester me about why we're rushing. And eventually, she'd get it out of me," Chuck answered. "Better to just do it now, without them. We can always have something in Los Angeles, later."

A knock on the door interrupted their back and forth. A moment later, Casey walked in, also dressed in his Blue Dress 'A' uniform.

"They're ready," Casey said. "Better get a move on."

Chuck looked at Jack. "Let's go, buddy." Chuck said, and the three men walked out of the room.

 **Chapel**

 **US Naval Academy**

 **Annapolis, MD**

 **September 11, 2008**

 **1030 hours**

"You may now kiss the bride." Chaplain (Lieutenant Commander) John Patrick O'Brien, USN said. "Or brides, as the case may be." Laughter filled the chapel. On the altar, Jack and Cathy, and Chuck and Sarah, engaged in their first kiss as husbands and wives. A moment later they broke apart, and Chuck turned to Chaplain O'Brien.

"Thanks for doing this on such short notice, Chaplain," Chuck said, shaking his hand.

"Not a problem, Chuck," Chaplain O'Brien said. "I know better than to ask what's coming up that you felt the need to move this fast. Be careful."

"We will, Chaplain." Sarah replied.

 **Apartment of Chuck and Sarah Bartowski**

 **Blue Ridge Apartment Complex**

 **Outside Stafford, Virginia**

 **September 13, 2008**

 **0630 hours**

"Rise and shine, Mrs. Bartowski," Chuck said, as he carried two mugs of coffee into the bedroom. In the bed, Sarah smiled as she stretched out, trying to clear the cobwebs from her head.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing that," Sarah responded, as she sat up and took one of the mugs from Chuck. "What time do we have to meet up with the rest of the team?"

"0800," Chuck said. "Our transport leaves at 0900." After the dual wedding two days ago, Harper had given Chuck and Sarah and Jack and Cathy forty-eight hours off, sort of a mini-honeymoon. Although, considering they had to stay close by to the base, it wasn't much; but still, Chuck and Sarah had found a way to pass the time.

Today, the entire Team Intersect would be taking a C-17 Globemaster III to Kirtland Air Force Base. Once there, they would meet up with a detachment of Delta Force commandos (all of whom had been vetted by both the Intersect and the team's analyst section). From there, they would board specially modified Sikorsky H-60 Blackhawk Helicopters, designed for stealth, and make the hour long flight to assault the Fulcrum headquarters bunker. They would be accompanied by several Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow Attack Helicopters.

While the team was assaulting the Fulcrum Headquarters, additional teams of law enforcement and military units (again, all of whom had been vetted) would hit the remaining Fulcrum targets. The goal was to overwhelm the organization in one fell swoop.

"Nervous?" Sarah asked as she set her mug down on the nightstand.

"Always, before a big op." Chuck replied.

Sarah stood up, took his mug from his hand, and set it down. "Well, I think we have enough time for shower, during which I'll see if I can take your mind off of things." she said with a sultry smile, before she walked out of the room.

 **Kirtland Air Force Base**

 **Outside Albuquerque, New Mexico**

 **September 13, 2008**

 **1500 hours**

"Colonel Casey? I'm Major Roberts," Major John Roberts, U.S. Army 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (aka Delta Force) said, extending his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Major. This is my XO, Major Charles Bartowski, USMC." Casey said.

"Major," Chuck acknowledged.

"Raiders?" Major Roberts inquired, shaking Chuck's hand. At Chuck's affirmative nod, the Major smiled. "Good outfit. They've backed us up on a couple of operations. Nice to be able to return the favor."

Casey then introduced the rest of the team. For the operation they were using their real names, although of course they were not telling anyone about the Intersect. Likewise, Major Roberts introduced his unit, A Squadron.

After the introductions were done, both teams got down to discussing the plan for the upcoming assault. The concept was simple enough. Using the cover of darkness and the stealth technology of the helicopters, Team Intersect and A Squadron would be dropped into the perimeter of the bunker. While A Squadron and the helicopters suppressed any above ground guard force that was present, and prevented the enemy from escaping, Team Intersect would assault the bunker itself. Once the area was secure, one Troop (or Platoon) of A Squadron would join with Team Intersect and provide additional support for clearing the bunker.

 **Onboard MH-60L Black Hawk**

 **Callsign Vampire 1**

 **Somewhere in the New Mexico Desert**

 **September 13, 2008**

 **2100 hours**

"Get Ready!" Casey shouted to the others in the chopper. Team Intersect was split between the first two choppers in the flight, with A Squadron in the rest of them. Around him, the five other members of Team Intersect in the chopper began double checking their gear. In the other helicopters, the rest of Team Intersect and A Squadron were doing the same. A moment later the copilot turned around and gave Casey a signal.

"Go. Go. Go!" Casey shouted, both to those in his helicopter and over the radio to the other helicopters. Carina and Agent Forest attached ropes to the helicopter and threw the coiled bundles overboard. A moment later Casey and Lt. Parker were clipped on the ropes and repelling down.

 **Fulcrum Base Grounds**

 **Somewhere in the New Mexico Desert**

 **September 13, 2008**

 **2100 hours**

Derek Little stifled a yawn as he scanned the area. He was one of a handful of guards on duty above ground, and he hated the assignment. When he had been recruited by Fulcrum, he thought he would be an agent, going undercover to further Fulcrum's aims. Instead, here he was, babysitting Fulcrum command. A sudden sound caused him to perk up. At first, he wasn't sure what it was. It was only when the shapes appeared in the sky that he realized what was going on.

"Shit." he muttered, and then reached for his radio to raise the alarm. "This is Watchtower-2. We have helicopters coming in fast." He was greeted by nothing but static. "Damn. Bastards must be jamming." A moment later he saw ropes fall from the helos, and figures begin fast-roping down. He raised his assault rifle to fire at the figures, when the back of his head exploded.

 **Onboard MH-60L Black Hawk**

 **Callsign Vampire 1**

 **Somewhere in the New Mexico Desert**

 **September 13, 2008**

 **2105 hours**

"I've got a Tango at 1 o'clock!" the pilot yelled. In the back of the chopper, Captain Jennifer O'Connor brought her rifle up and scanned in the direction the pilot indicated. Seeing the guard reach for his weapon, she lined up her sights and fired a shot. A second later, she saw him fall to the ground. Looking over the edge of the deck, she saw Casey look up from his spot on the ground give her a thumbs up. She returned the gesture.

 **Fulcrum Base Grounds**

 **Somewhere in the New Mexico Desert**

 **September 13, 2008**

 **2115 hours**

The firefight was brief, and totally one-sided. Team Intersect and A Squadron quickly overwhelmed the guard force that was stationed above ground. From there, A Squadron fanned out, securing the perimeter and clearing the few above ground buildings. Meanwhile, Team Intersect moved forward to the entrance of the bunker.

At Casey's hand signal, Chuck and Lt. Parker attached explosive charges to the bunker door. Once attached, the entire group moved back and took cover.

"Fire in the hole!" Casey shouted, before depressing the remote detonator. A second later, the explosives went off, shattering the door.

 **Fulcrum Base**

 **Control Room**

 **Level 3**

 **Three Stories Underground**

 **Somewhere in the New Mexico Desert**

 **September 13, 2008**

 **2115 hours**

"Report!" Fulcrum Director Ted Roarke barked as he came into the Control Room.

"Sir, we've lost contact with the security team above ground," Judy Marks, the Duty Officer responded. "Pressure sensors indicate a large formation on the grounds, but our external security cameras are inoperable."

Before Roarke could respond, a loud boom was heard and klaxon alarms started going off.

"This is Post-1! We have a breach at the bunker door. Repeat, we a have a-" a voice shouted over the intercom before being cutoff in a hail of gunfire.

"Alert all security teams!" Roarke ordered.

 **Fulcrum Base**

 **Level 3**

 **Three Stories Underground**

 **Somewhere in the New Mexico Desert**

 **September 13, 2008**

 **2135 hours**

"This is Chuck. Second level is now secure." Chuck's voice came over the radio. Casey and his team were currently on the third level, having just cleared it out except for the Control Room.

"Roger, Chuck." Casey said. "We've cleared level three and are at the Control Room. Getting ready to blow the door now." Casey motioned to Lt. Parker who moved forward and placed explosives on the large steel door. He then moved back to where Casey and the rest of the team were. A moment later Casey pressed the remote detonator and a large explosion rocked the facility.

"Shit!" Casey said, peering through the smoke. The door, although damaged, had not been destroyed. "Parker, we need to hit it again."

 **Fulcrum Base**

 **Control Room**

 **Level 3**

 **Three Stories Underground**

 **Somewhere in the New Mexico Desert**

 **September 13, 2008**

 **2135 hours**

"Sir, they're right outside the Control Room!" Judy shouted. "The door won't hold much longer."

"Initiate wipe protocols and head for the escape tunnel." Roarke ordered.

"Something's wrong. I've lost all control of the consoles!"

"Shit." Roarke said. Just then the room shook with a boom. "They're trying to blow the door. We have to leave now." A moment later he, Judy and the four other Fulcrum operatives in the control room had opened a hidden hatch and disappeared through it.

 **Storage Building #2**

 **Fulcrum Base Grounds Near Perimeter**

 **Somewhere in the New Mexico Desert**

 **September 13, 2008**

 **2145 hours**

"This is Casey." Casey's voice came over the radio. "We've breached the Control Room, but it's empty. We've found a hatch inside that leads to a tunnel. A Squadron, stay frosty. They may be coming your way."

"This is Roberts. Acknowledged," Major Roberts responded. "All Delta teams, take up positions outside to cover the buildings." A moment later he and the five men with him had left the storage building they were in and took up positions outside.

Several minutes passed with no sign of the missing Fulcrum operatives or any reports from the rest of the team. Roberts was just about to radio Casey when one of his men whispered to him.

"Sir. I've got movement by the window." Roberts looked over to where the trooper was indicating, and could see several figures moving around inside the building. A moment later, six figures emerged from the building, moving slowly and alertly towards the perimeter fence.

"Fire." Roberts ordered. A moment later the troopers with him had opened fired on the figures. Three of the figures were hit and went down immediately, while the other three attempted to return fire. The Delta commandos fired again, and the three remaining figures went down. Waiting a few moments to make sure no one else would emerge, Roberts and his team then began moving towards the area where the bodies lay.

"Casey, this is Roberts." He said into the radio. "Six Tangos down. One of them is Ted Roarke.


	21. Chapter 21

**Epilogue**

 **Corporate Boardroom**

 **Volkoff Industries**

 **St. Petersburg, Russia**

 **September 15, 2008**

 **2100 hours**

"Report." Alexi Volkoff ordered. He was seated at the head of the large conference table that took up most of the room. Seated around the table were his corporate lawyer, Riley; his lieutenants Jurek, Antonia, and Christoph; his daughter Vivian; and his two American wizards.

"The CIA/NSA has successfully dismantled Fulcrum." The American woman stated. "According to our intelligence, they have killed or captured nearly 200 Fulcrum operatives and confiscated nearly two dozen facilities and properties."

"And their money and data?" Alexi asked.

"We succeeded in transferring about 65% of Fulcrum's monetary assets to secret Volkoff accounts." The American man stated. "We had to leave enough to make sure we didn't tip the CIA/NSA off too soon. As far as the data, we copied all of it onto our servers before we deleted certain files from the Fulcrum servers…mainly research and technology that we don't want the CIA/NSA to know exists."

"Excellent." Alexi stated.

"There is one more thing." Vivian said.

"Yes, daughter?" Alexi asked. In a flash, Vivian had produced a Walther PPK and fired three shots into her father before he could react. At the same time, the American couple had also produced guns and shot Mr. Riley, Jurek, Antonia, and Christoph. A moment later a guard entered the room.

"Get these bodies out of here." Vivian ordered and then turned to the American company, smiling. "It's time for Volkoff Industries to move to the next level. Isn't that right, Mother, Father?"

"That's my girl." Mary Bartowski, aka 'FROST', responded.

"Soon the CIA/NSA will learn the penalty for screwing with the Bartowskis." Stephen J. Bartowski, aka 'ORION', said. "And we will possess the Intersect, one way or another. Of course, the demon-spawn that the CIA tried to saddle us with will have to be put out of the way, as well."

 **Office of Thomas Harper**

 **Team Intersect Headquarters**

 **MCB Quantico**

 **Quantico, Virginia**

 **September 25, 2008**

 **1500 hours**

"Hey Chief, got a second?" Himeko asked, standing at the doorway to Harper's office.

"Come on in." Harper responded. Himeko walked in a sat down. "What's up?"

"Boss, we've been going through data taken from the other Fulcrum servers we captured, as well as the activity logs. And we've found some anomalies." Himeko said.

"What do you mean?" Harper asked.

"It appears that just after we raided the Fulcrum facilities, someone copied all of the electronic data housed in them to another server. Then they deleted about 10% of the files. My team is still trying to reconstruct what was deleted, but whoever did it is very good." Himeko said.

"One of Fulcrum's people we didn't get, maybe?" Harper asked. Himeko shook her head.

"I don't think so, boss." She said. "Something was bothering me about the server we took from the Fulcrum facility in South America that led us to the information we used to conduct the raids. It took some doing but I found some code that generated a very brief signal once the encryption was broken. It was an alert that encryption was broken. I haven't been able to trace it, but if it had gone to someone in Fulcrum, wouldn't they have moved their operations? Or beefed up their security?"

Harper thought for a few moments. "You're right." Harper said. "'But then that means-"

"That someone wanted us to find and put Fulcrum out of business." Himeko said. "But they also wanted Fulcrum's data. And since they deleted some of it off the servers we captured-"

"There's something they don't want us to know about." Harper finished.

 ** _Author's Endnote:_** _And there we have it folks, the end of Chuck vs. Semper Fi. There will be an eventual sequel that will focus on the Volkoff story-line introduced in the epilogue, but this sequel will not be happening right away. I'm going to concentrate on my other Chuck story, There Is Such Thing As Second Chances, for a while._


End file.
